Blinking
by EeBee-kohai
Summary: When Konoha goes to war with some of the Akatsuki, Naruto tries to kill Itachi. Itachi sends Team Kakashi back to the day after each turned nine. Kakashi basically has to fix it all, while the rest watch. Naruto & Hinata, Kakashi & Anko, Sakura & Sai
1. Chapter 1: Blinking

**Hey! The '_Five-Points Rasengan_' is not my idea! It is, I believe, Xavon Wrentaile's! I have changed a few pieces of information, such as Itachi and Deidara being killed, because I started writing this story in part 1 and the ideas I have since gotten kind of need me to keep it the same.**

**Well, here's my first revised chapter! I am going to continue revising, so, see you soon!**

**Blinking**

As if he was the only pillar his village had to stand on, Naruto thrashed at Itachi yet again. Sasuke followed him with a Chidori. Through the pain of them seeing their village destroyed before their eyes, they each stood from the ground again. A nearby building started to topple over, causing Naruto to have to jump up to avoid the debris.

Birds no longer chirped on their peaceful paths and the rivers had long been polluted with the blood of his comrades. The only remaining citizens were Team Kakashi, including Sasuke.

Naruto shook his head slightly. It wasn't fair. They shouldn't have had to watch everyone die and only be able to stand along the sidelines.

Kakashi and Sai stood shakily, having to rely on the small amounts of Chakra they had left to keep them standing. Kakashi slowly dropped onto all fours, knowing that dignity meant nothing in a losing fight. Neither made a move, knowing that their teammate would die if they did.

Deidara and Kisame had taken Sakura hostage in a single moment of Kakashi and Sai's hesitation, and Kisame held her in front of him, daring them to make a wrong move. Neither would.

Naruto formed a Rasengan and stared into it with empty eyes. He dispersed it and created a Five-Points Rasengan. He looked to Sasuke briefly and motioned for him to distract Kisame and Deidara. Sasuke sighed wearily and ran forward, legs shaking with the slightest amount of hesitation. He would not disobey his Hokage, though. No matter what happened.

Sai looked at Kakashi and frowned. He looked back at Sakura and noticed another Sakura in the forest. So the one taken hostage was a fake. He pulled his scroll out and drew two lions at an inhuman speed and ran with them toward Kisame.

"You wouldn't mind risking your own teammate for an attack-un?" Deidara asked smugly. "You might be a good Shinobi, then-un."

Sai glared at him and had the urge to pummel him for hours straight. The lions launched themselves at Deidara and Kisame just as Kisame reached forth to slit Sakura's throat. She dispersed in a cloud of smoke as the real Sakura jumped from the trees behind. "I would never risk a comrade…"

Kakashi jumped behind Deidara and kicked his legs out from under him. Deidara, too, dispersed into smoke. Kisame rolled his eyes and swung his sword around himself. Kakashi looked around quickly to see Deidara flying above them on a clay bird. Deidara threw a few clay spiders down and flew up.

Naruto flew backwards at the hand of Itachi yet again and shook his head. It wasn't working and he didn't know how to defeat one of the strongest missing-nin he'd ever met. He let Sasuke fight Itachi on his own for a moment while he created two five-points Rasengans.

Sasuke flew back after receiving a hard punch and stood clutching his stomach for a moment.

"Naruto," Sasuke began.

Naruto looked at Sasuke silently.

"You should escape…while you can. I don't…I don't think we can defeat them."

Naruto shook his head. "No," he muttered. "What kind of Hokage no, person do you take me for? I won't let them take Konoha." With that, he ran toward Itachi at full speed.

For Sasuke, the bold move the Hokage had chosen to execute was seen in slow motion. He saw the twitch that was Naruto feeling the gaping hole in his shoulder. He saw Naruto's brief falter of his step and any doubt that managed to fight it's way to Naruto's face.

Looking down from the Hokage monument, Kakashi could only wonder what had motivated the Akatsuki to create the abyss that was once a beautiful village. There wasn't a place he could look and not see dead people. Whether they looked like people after what had been done to them or not, he knew they were.

Sai backed up from Kisame, taking a momentary break and allowing Kakashi to fight him, and looked at Naruto, thinking about how far the boy had gone in his life. From the boy with nothing similar to a tool of masculinity, Naruto had become the village's valiant Hokage. So many people had died under Naruto's leadership, but one couldn't say it was his fault. How the boy man managed to live with the guilt, though, was as much a mystery as anything.

Sasuke looked back at his brother, not understanding why he was attacking his 'beloved village' if he had truly been a good person. It didn't make sense, and he wondered if it ever would.

"Uchiha Itachi," Naruto ground out. "I, on behalf of the village…understand what you…were put through…but you have no right…no _need_…to attack and kill…heartlessly," he panted.

Itachi looked at him coldly. "In a mere moment, you could be fully alive. And all it takes is the wrong person to snap and you're all gone. I'm here to save you from that doom."

Naruto shook his head. "No, Uchiha, you _are_ that person! You killed you killed my village! They, my friends, my families, my village, are dead! Because of _you_!" He ran forward as fast as he could, still knowing the Uchiha would be able to see him, and held his hands before him.

Inches before the technique hit Itachi, Itachi performed a quick set of hand seals.

"Time Travel no Jutsu." Itachi looked at Sasuke, and it appeared as if he bowed slightly.


	2. Chapter 2: Changing

So EeBee-kohai has changed a few things for this chapter. Kakashi isn't actually asked to train Anko in the real timeline, but for EeBee-kohai's story, she wanted them to train together.

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Changing

Kakashi lay slightly awake with a strange feeling. His body felt abnormal and he knew it was a direct result of Itachi's Jutsu. Running his mind over the battle, his breath caught in his throat as he remembered seeing Anko die. His nightmare of Anko's death had happened in reality and it would always haunt him that he had not saved her. He had been fighting alongside her against Sasori when she was killed. He let out his breath slowly as he vaguely thought of the smile Itachi had given them before sending them back in time. He paused when he felt the tears falling quickly down his face.

Realizing he hadn't cried in years, it occurred to him that something was really wrong. Slowly, he lifted his hand to his masked face and wiped his tears away. He cautiously opened his eyes and gasped. His eyes shot open as he looked at Anko standing in front of him. He shut them tight, shook his head, and then opened them once more.

She looked at him quizzically.

"…Anko…" Kakashi said, marveling at how strange and young his voice sounded. He wondered how far back Itachi's Jutsu had sent him.

He shot himself at Anko and embraced her tightly. "Gah!" Anko stiffened, wondering if he was OK.

"Kakashi, are you OK?" she said with little feeling. She tried to remember if she'd ever seen Kakashi give anyone but his father and his sensei a hug.

Kakashi backed away with a sad look. He looked at her, trying to suppress the urge to kiss her and hold her. He swallowed deeply.

"Kakashi, why is your forehead protector covering your eye? And…uh…were you just… crying?" she asked, curiously.

"I always… Oh… Oops. I got dust in my eye…" he said, quickly fixing his forehead protector. He smiled at her, forgetting that she wouldn't be able to read his eyes as well as she would be able to in the future.

Kakashi stared at her eyes while she wasn't looking, sighing as he saw the beautiful deep brown color of them. She glanced up, raising her eyebrows under his appraisal. "…Hehe…" he put his right hand behind his head slightly embarrassed.

"I guess we should go now," said Anko, trying to dismiss Kakashi's strange behavior. Kakashi looked confused. "What? We were going to train," Anko reminded him.

Kakashi looked at the ground trying to remember pieces of the past. "Do you think–we could postpone–for an hour? I have–something–I need–to solve," he requested in broken sentences, trying to figure out how to ask this and not give away any information.

She shrugged. "Whatever. It was your sensei's request."

Kakashi silently took note of what she said. He remembered Minato-sensei requesting that he train a smart academy student. She would have graduated in one year anyway, but she had wanted to get a slight head start. He remembered being told to train with her as an actual ninja instead of an academy student. After quite a few violent threats, he had hesitantly agreed.

Kakashi eye-smiled at her, "OK. Can you meet me back here in an hour?"

"Sure," she shrugged as she turned away. She had decided to go work on her replications for the next hour.

Before she got to far away, Kakashi quickly remembered, "Oh, yeah. Could you do me a favor? Would you go to Team Six's training grounds instead of Minato-sensei's, today?" he requested. "I heard there was someone lurking around Minato-sensei's yesterday," he answered her unvoiced question.

"Sure," she said, her eyebrows furrowing. Kakashi was acting very strange. He was almost acting like he cared.

He waved and walked away, leaving her confused.

He ran swiftly toward Konoha, running into Gai. Gai looked at the ground, "I'm sorry, Kakashi. I wasn't watching where I was going."

"We all make mistakes," Kakashi stated, shrugging it off.

"Huh?"

"What? I said–" Kakashi stopped, remembering why Gai was so fidgety. Gai had been very different when he was younger. Gai really didn't have much of a backbone when he was a child.

"…Oh…" He could tell he was confusing Gai. "Hey Gai, I've thought of something," Gai winced, expecting to be picked on. "You should try to train with more Taijutsu. You have amazing potential. You should start early, though, so you can have time to develop your skills. I'll help you, if you want. I'm no expert, but I know a little."

"…Uh…Uh–yes! I'd love your help!" Gai exclaimed quietly. Kakashi smiled.

"OK. See you later, then?" Gai nodded. Kakashi waved, walking away, and leaving Gai as confused as Anko.

He hurried on, stopping only when he reached the market. He ran past all the food items and looked around him. He picked up a calendar and thought for a moment. He realized that he was 9 years old. Not only that, but he'd only just turned 9 yesterday. He gulped, remembering what would occur in the next year. His father… he'd save his father this time. _'I can't live through that a second time. It's…I'll save him.'_ He thought determinedly.

He walked around the village for a while, heading toward the Memorial Stone. He froze when he couldn't find Obito's name, but then internally rejoiced when he remembered that Obito would still be alive. He smiled and walked away.

Realizing that Anko was probably waiting for him, he rushed to training ground 23 to find Anko looking very aggravated, leaning against a tree. She glared as he came into view.

"What took you so long?" she asked loudly.

"I like to keep my teammates on edge." He laughed.

Anko smiled, "You should laugh more."

"Agreed."

Anko and Kakashi trained until they were both tired. Kakashi had been worried about overworking Anko, but he realized that her iron and slightly scary will had formed when she was only a child.

"You want to go get some ramen?" Kakashi asked. "I was going to go later, but it's boring to go alone."

"Sure," she agreed with a bright smile. "I'd like that."

They walked toward the ramen store rather slowly, as they were both heavily covered in bruises.

On the way there, Kakashi stopped to talk to Asuma and Gai. Asuma and Kakashi had always been good friends, but the entire group was taken by surprise when Kakashi spoke so kindly to Gai. In the end, all four children ended up getting ramen together.

Anko, Asuma, and Gai marveled at how friendly Kakashi was acting during this encounter.

Kakashi enjoyed himself immensely, but he was slightly distracted by what was on his mind. First, he was wondering what time the rest of his team had been sent back to, and second, he really wanted to go visit Obito. Obito would not understand the true reason Kakashi wanted to see his best friend so badly, but he didn't care about that. As far as Obito was concerned, Kakashi considered him to be nobody, let alone a friend.

Heading toward the Uchiha Compound, he found Obito throwing Kunai at a tree not very successfully. Kakashi laughed. Obito turned toward Kakashi, surprised.

"Hi, Kakashi." Obito waved energetically.

"Hey, Obito! How's it going?" Kakashi waved.

"OK. I wish we had a mission today, but Minato-sensei said he didn't want to give us a mission on your birthday and today he just wanted to be lazy." Obito shook his head with a chuckle.

"Hey, Obito, I have something to say."

"Yup?"

"Well… I guess that knowing you has made me acknowledge you as a person. And I think your being a person isn't bad and your skills as a person are acknowledgeable. Erm…what I mean is… well… um…?"

"What are you trying to say?" Obito looked confused.

'_Just like Naruto. Strange'_ Kakashi thought. "I'm saying that I consider you to be my best friend. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to notice."

"You're saying sorry because you just acknowledged me and proclaimed me as your best friend in one conversation?" Obito asked sarcastically. Suddenly, Obito dropped his Kunai and pounced on Kakashi in a giant hug.

"Eek!" Shouted Kakashi. "What the hell? Since when do friends try to kill each other in homicidal hugs?"

Obito snickered.


	3. Chapter 3: Meeting

**As of now, let the games begin! Um…EeBee-kohai is crazy… anyway, read on, EeBee-kohai's friends!**

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Meeting

Kakashi smiled proudly at his accomplishment as he walked down the roads of Konoha with Obito and Anko. He'd been back all of seven hours and he'd already trained with Anko, acknowledged Obito and admitted to him being Kakashi's best friend, convinced Gai to train using Taijutsu with him, and… gotten Gai to proclaim Kakashi as his eternal rival.

Anko waved goodbye and ran toward her house smiling. Obito and Kakashi walked a little further.

As they walked in silence, a thought occurred to Kakashi, "What do you think of my dad?"

"Huh?" Obito asked, coming out of his daydream.

"What do you think of my dad? Describe him."

"OK… I guess I consider him a hero. I mean, he is really a great man who does more than enough for this village." He paused, confused. "Minato-sensei is lucky to have him as a friend and you are lucky to have him as an Otousan. His morals are ideal for a ninja, as well as his strength and skills. He is a great person. Why do you want to know?" He looked at Kakashi in a sidelong glance.

"It's just… no reason. I was just curious." _'And I am about to meet my Dad for the first time in about twenty years.'_

"OK. Bye!" Obito waved and walked away.

Kakashi took a deep breath, exhaled, and walked toward where he would find his father. He didn't know how he would react and that bothered him. He was not used to being worried about anything that had to do with emotions.

When he arrived at his house, he stopped in front of it. He tried to move, but he couldn't. When his father had died, he had moved out of the house. He had never visited it again. He had never had the courage to face it again.

Facing what he'd avoided for so long took a toll on his will. The shock, the depression, the memories, seeing his father, dead, laying inert on the floor; it all came back to him when he stared with a child's eyes at the place he would call home, again.

As he stared, he could feel not only sadness and depression, but anger. Anger that his father had left him to be alone, to follow the Shinobi Code with such misplaced determination, to fight anything with spirit that should have been directed to protecting his team, his friends, his Hokage and his love. At this thought, his anger abruptly left, and he saw the images of his Hokage struggling so hard to fight for and protect his village. He saw Anko's blank stare as she faded away from those who urged her to stay with them.

He blinked his eyes and saw the house again. He willed himself to move forward. His anger at his father swelled again. He tried to push it away. In the lapse of his concentration, he tripped over a root. He tried to get up again, but his body would not allow him to. _'Otousan. Otousan. Why did you leave me? I may have suffered from people labeling me a 'son-of-a-traitor', but that didn't matter. You committed a sin by… ki–killing yourself,'_ Kakashi could barely think through his forming tears. _'But I will try to forgive you. Otousan…Tochan. I missed you. I can't wait to see you.'_ Kakashi smiled a small, distant smile.

His mind urged his legs to move forward. He wiped any tears he cried away and moved toward the house steadily. His eyes gained a look of determination and… excitement. He went inside the house and paused. His father was not home yet. His face fell into a slight sulk.

He shrugged and walked upstairs. He found his old room and chuckled at how it looked. It sure wasn't average for a nine-year-old. He had two large black cases that sat opened, filled with Kunai, Shuriken, exploding tags, and other ninja tools. There were three posters on the walls. One had a ninja on it. Kakashi noted that it looked like latter-day Asuma. The second had the title "Shinobi Code: Basics". Kakashi walked over and took it down, shredding it with determined vigor.

Kakashi smirked as he saw the third poster; it had four ninja on it: his father, Minato, himself, and Kushina. The foursome was making funny faces and doing interesting poses for the camera.

Minato had decided a long time ago that he'd wait to take on any students, but Sakumo had begged him to train Kakashi. Sakumo didn't want Kakashi's skills to go to waste with a mediocre trainer. Plus, he trusted Minato like a brother. That had been three years ago, though their relationship had not changed.

Kakashi looked around his room again to see his clothes all folded precisely and his bed made 'army-tight'. Kakashi had a sudden urge… he ran forward and messed up his folded pile of clothes with a loud laugh. He threw them everywhere. He jumped up to his bed, still throwing clothes, and now pillows, everywhere. He felt childish, and it felt good.

Distracted with throwing the pillows and clothes everywhere, he didn't notice the door open, and the tall man staring, with one eyebrow raised and a very defined smile. The man let out a chuckle. Kakashi waved energetically, then paused, his eyes widening.

"Holy shit…"

"Kakashi, watch your mouth," the other man admonished him, eyes narrowing slightly. Kakashi 'eep'-ed and noted the same silver hair, the traditional Jounin Uniform, same mask, same eyes. Kakashi dropped the now destroyed pillow and ran towards his father.

"Otousan! Yippee! Tochan! Tochan! Tochan!" Kakashi hugged his father and jumped around like the nine year-old that he was. _'What am I DOING?'_ Kakashi thought with a shrug. Whatever. He didn't care. He was seeing his father for the first time in a few decades. He was happy.

"Um, kid, I, Uh…" Sakumo felt his son's forehead. "Are you OK?"

"Duh." Kakashi rolled his eyes and dragged his father out of the messy room.

Kakashi dragged him out of the house, and Sakumo barely had time to cast a burglar trap.

Kakashi bobbed his head as he skipped happily, dragging his father, to Ichiraku's. He stopped in front and blushed.

"Shit. Shit. Shit!" Kakashi looked ticked off. "This isn't where I was trying to go."

"Um… 'Kashi? Why did you take me to a… makeup store?" Sakumo looked extremely concerned and had not even noticed Kakashi swearing vehemently.

"I… need... another mask…?" Kakashi improvised.

"Um… we don't buy our masks from here."

"Yeah…" Kakashi drew out slowly.

Kakashi shrugged and dragged his father forward again without a warning. They soon arrived at the barbeque stand. Sakumo looked extremely battered for an impromptu trip to a restaurant.

"You're paying!" Kakashi exclaimed.

'_Is this really my son?'_ Sakumo thought. "OK," he shrugged.

The entire time they sat eating, Kakashi rambled on and on about missions and training with Anko and Gai declaring himself as his rival and his earlier craving for ramen and Obito and… everything else in existence, until Sakumo started getting slightly annoyed.

"OK. What am I missing? What are you rambling about?"

Kakashi smiled, but thought, _'Oops. Maybe I've overwhelmed him._' "EVERYTHING!" he replied.

Sakumo rolled his eyes and smirked at his son.


	4. Chapter 4: Fearing

**EeBee-kohai guesses this chapter has a little OOC-ness in regards to Minato… come on people, he's hard to write!**

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**Fearing**

Over the next three months, Kakashi and Anko trained together almost every day. He was still continuously surprising Anko by doing the complete opposite of what she expected. Obito had taken to training with them when he could. Gai had trained with them at first, but soon found that it was more "youthful" to train separately from his eternal rival. It had taken him a while, but Kakashi had finally gotten used to not having Sharingan.

Kakashi was genuinely happy, even with the few lurking problems. He shuddered, remembering seeing his Otousan in the other timeline: Dead. Inert. He gulped, trying not to remember. He looked down at his hands and saw them shaking. "Obito…" he started, looking at his friend.

Hearing Kakashi's tone, Obito turned away from the main road, pulling Kakashi along with him. He paused when they reached a small field. "What's wrong 'Kashi? You've been really distracted for a couple of weeks now." Obito looked at Kakashi with a worried look.

Kakashi paused, but knew he needed his friend's advice. "If you knew something that you shouldn't know, because it goes against reality, would you utilize the knowledge?" Seeing Obito's confused look, Kakashi tried to explain what he meant. "If, for some reason, you knew that someone was going to do something that was looked down upon by the village, but is not actually a bad thing, and it will lead to their suicide, and you really want to save them, what would you do?"

Obito thought for a moment. "Could you give me a scenario?"

"OK..." Kakashi needed a real answer, so he'd have to use the real scenario, no matter how much it hurt. "Let's pretend my Otousan goes on a mission and it goes wrong. Someone gets severely injured and my Otousan saves the injured guy, exposing himself and his team, thus inevitably failing the mission. Soon after, the council rules that he is guilty of treason, because he failed to complete a mission that, if failed, could lead to the destruction of Konoha. The entire town labels him as a traitor and makes him and I outcasts. He doesn't want to put me through the terror of being labeled like that, so he–he…" Kakashi faltered, wondering if he had given too much detail, "commits suicide."

"Wow. Kakashi, is that what you're afraid of?" Obito saw Kakashi nod. "Don't you think… it's a little farfetched?"

Kakashi looked up from the spot he'd been staring at on the ground. Obito was taken aback at the sight of tears in his friend's eyes. _'Wow. Kakashi has tears? He's not just speculating…'_

"Kakashi, why do you think that would happen?"

"Obito, I don't think that will happen. I _know_ it will happen… unless I can stop it. I can't explain it to you, Obito. I don't believe it's my right," Kakashi said, thinking about Sai, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura. "Obito… I…" Kakashi looked at the ground again. "I need your help."

Kakashi tried to restrain the nine year-old part of him that was trying to take over, but let his grasp go when Obito hugged him supportively. Kakashi let out a few tears, remembering the day he'd found his Otousan dead as a result of his 'honorable death'. "Honorable death… not so honorable," mumbled Kakashi through tears and hiccups.

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Kakashi walked back home. His 'walking' was a lot more like 'skipping'. He hopped up the front stairs and through the door. He walked into the kitchen and noticed an unusual smell coming from somewhere in the house. The smell was familiar… it made his bones feel like they would collapse.

He followed the mysterious smell with a bad feeling. He gulped heavily. His subconscious was warning him against going further, but he dutifully ignored the urge. He walked up the stairs slowly, mind racing ahead, imagining all the possibilities, when he reached the door.

He opened the door and the dark smell increased in potency. He could feel the sweat rolling down his cheek and made no move to wipe it away. He clicked the light on and froze, not even able to collapse. He stood, not knowing what he was feeling.

On the floor laid a dead, silver-haired man, covered in blood. He held a note in a sealed envelope, protecting it from the blood splatters. A part of Kakashi's subconscious wondered what the note said, while the rest was empty in horror.

Kakashi made a motion to move forward but instead collapsed in a heap over his Otousan's body.

"Otousan! Otousan! What have you done? Tochan, Why?"

Kakashi woke up abruptly with a gasp, sweating profusely. He always dreamed of that fateful night when something was on his mind, but he hadn't dreamed of it in a while.

He shook his head. _'Normally there isn't so much detail.'_ He hugged his sides, feeling the remnants of the pain from his Otousan's death.

He looked up when his Otousan entered the room. "'Kashi, are you OK? You were… screaming."

'_I was…shit.'_ "I'm… fine. I had a bad dream." Kakashi looked at his blanket-covered feet.

Sakumo looked embarrassed, "Do you… want to come sleep with me tonight? It might help you," he defended.

Kakashi brightened, hopping out of bed. He didn't even attempt to fix his covers, now lying on the floor.

Nine year-old Kakashi would have been too embarrassed in the other timeline to do this, but in this one, he grabbed his Tochan's hand and dragged him towards the older man's room.

Kakashi opened the door and continued to drag his Tochan toward the bed. In a sleepy state, Sakumo tripped over a few times. Kakashi hopped into bed and pulled his Tochan by the arm, causing him to fall over onto the bed.

"'Kashi! Where do you get this… midnight-energy? Calm. Down."

Kakashi blinked and rapidly nodded his head. "OK Tochan! I will!"

Sakumo stared blankly at Kakashi, thinking of the day three months ago, right after his ninth birthday, when everything had changed about his son. He'd become way happier and had started to hang out with kids his age more. Also, he'd stopped living so strictly by the Shinobi Code. He was happier and he was freaking Sakumo out. _'Is this my kid?'_ Sakumo thought with a smirk. _'Yep. No doubt about it: Silver hair. Silly. Energetic. Strong. Smart.'_

He finally settled down and went to sleep with his son at his side.

Kakashi was happy next to his father. With him there, Kakashi would always be protected. _'…With him there…'_ Gulp. Kakashi went to sleep with a slightly uneasy feeling.

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Kakashi woke up and saw his father sleeping. He giggled when the sound of his father's snores, resembling a chainsaw, increased in volume. He hopped out of bed and walked through the door with a wide smile. Rushing down the stairs he got a bright idea.

Rummaging through the kitchen, Kakashi found flour, chocolate chips and other cooking ingredients. He mixed them together, not knowing how to cook any better now than he had in the original timeline.

From upstairs, some loud banging and scrapes could be heard in the kitchen. It sounded like someone was being murdered. Sakumo's paternal instincts kicked into action as he hopped out of bed and grabbed his Tanto.

Tumbling down the stairs, Sakumo was on full alert. He ran into the kitchen and glared, looking for the perpetrator. Finding none, he relaxed his stance, before looking at Kakashi and bursting into laughter.

Kakashi stood on a stool with a Kunai in hand and a very frustrated look on his face as he violently flipped pancakes. A pot sat on the floor with a jagged hole in its side. Flour was scattered everywhere and a bag of chocolate chips was spilling onto the floor.

Looking around, Sakumo's laughter increased, earning him a deadly glare from Kakashi. He tried to suppress the laughter, but ended up falling over. Kakashi gripped his Kunai.

Something clicked in the back of Sakumo's head when Kakashi grinned and threw some flour at his Tochan. Kakashi had learned to be a child. He'd practically been born a 30-year-old man and it had taken him 9 years until he had become a child.

Sakumo looked at his masked son thoughtfully, not knowing that it had actually taken Kakashi 30 years and most of the people he loved dieing for him to learn to be a child.

As Sakumo was thinking, Kakashi was also thinking about how frustrated he was. Who knew that cooking could be so hard? He would have to replace the pot he'd stabbed with a chakra-infused Kunai earlier.

As the two were lost in their thoughts, they didn't notice the room had gone quiet, until Minato barged in through the door.

"Alright! Are you ready to PAAARRRTTTTYYYY?" Minato shouted.

"…Um…" Sakumo blinked.

"…" Kakashi wished he had his Icha Icha.

"Hehe… hi guys!" Minato put his hand behind his head nervously. "Gueeeesss whaattt?"

Sakumo sighed. "What?"

"Kakashi, Obito, Rin and I have a mission!"

"All that for a mission?"

A sweat drop appeared on Minato's forehead.

"I just… uh… I… wanted to make sure," he gulped, "you were awake?" he said, his tone making it a question.

"Minato, you need therapy," Kakashi advised.

"Son, you make me proud," Sakumo mock-cried.

Kakashi eye-smiled widely, then threw a pancake at Minato.

"Wha-what was that for?" Minato asked, surprised.

"Just felt like it." Kakashi shrugged.

The three sat down to eat the pancakes. Not the one that Kakashi threw at Minato, though.

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A few hours later, Kakashi came running into the field that Sakumo was training in.

"HE'S TRYING TO KILL ME, TOCHAN!" Kakashi hid behind his Otousan.

Minato came into the clearing after him. "Picking weeds is NOT murder."

"Chuunin DON'T do D-ranked missions!" Kakashi shook his head in disagreement.

"Hehe…" Sakumo chuckled.

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Sakumo and Kakashi sat down in the kitchen to eat dinner as Sakumo tried to explain to Kakashi why he had to do D-Ranked missions.

"Kakashi, you have to maintain an image…"

'_blah blah blah…'_ Kakashi thought stubbornly.

"And Minato does not have anything against you. He is making your whole _team_ do the D-Ranked missions."

"He does! He's trying to kill me! I don't want to die, Tochan!"

Minato walked into the house uninvited and glared at Kakashi, who was considering putting in a formal complaint against his beloved sensei.

"Sakumo." Minato said coldly.

"You're still mad about that?" Sakumo asked incredulously.

"You tried to kill me with your Tanto!" Minato huffed.

"I'm sorry! I went into paternal mode!"

"Whatever," Minato grunted. "I'll forgive you though… because I'm so NICE and TRUSTY! Kakashi, go to sleep." Minato said.

Kakashi blinked and looked at Minato blankly. "You. Are. Not. My. Tochan. Go. Away. MURDERER!"

"Is he ok?" Minato questioned Sakumo worriedly.

"I don't know. He's probably come up with a plan to get you back." Sakumo shrugged nonchalantly and continued eating.

"… Uh-oh…" Minato shuddered at the possibilities.

Kakashi decided to go to sleep after hugging his Otousan and glaring at Minato.

"What… no hug for mmeeee?" Minato looked hurt.

"Whatever." Kakashi hugged him and Minato started fighting for his breath.


	5. Chapter 5: Protecting

**Hey! EeBee-kohai is sorry for the super long update! She was having a hard time writing this chapter. It's really long and goes on rabbit trails a lot, but EeBee-kohai likes it. ;)**

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**Protecting**

Kakashi strode slowly through Konoha toward the Uchiha compound to find Obito. He walked past everything in a trance, not really aware of the people and things around him. He would have been seen with a thoughtful face on, but he was wearing his mask, so he could only be seen with thoughtful eyes. His brow furrowed in confusion. When and what was the mission where his father would fail? He couldn't remember. He'd tried so hard his entire life to block out the little pieces of pain that he couldn't even remember any of the mission's details.

Kakashi noticed the Uchiha compound coming into view. "Hey Obito!" he waved to Obito, who was arguing with Gai.

"Hey 'Kashi!" Obito waved.

"You cannot steal my eternal rival!" Gai proclaimed.

"But I'm not trying to! I promise!"

"It is not youthful to lie like that!" Gai shook his head. "Poor unyouthful person. I must spread the power of YOUTH!" He hugged the cringing Obito.

"What was that for?" Obito exclaimed while waving his hands.

"Your unyouthfulness must be healed."

Kakashi chuckled. He remembered the days in the other timeline when Gai had called him 'unyouthful' and 'hip'.

"Hello my most unyouthful and hip rival."

"Hn?" Kakashi 'Hn'-ed.

"I said—"

"I know what you said. What's up?"

Even though Gai had known 'New Kakashi' for at least a few months, it still threw him off that he was being so nice.

"I—uh—right! My youthfulness has allowed me to become a Taijutsu master! I thank you, my most hip eternal rival, for your kindly suggestion to train with Taijutsu to become so youthful!"

Kakashi and Obito blinked. "Uh… yeah…" Kakashi blinked a few more times.

"Obito, my most unyouthful rival-stealer, we must continue our youthful debate at a later time!" Gai ran off in a hurry.

"That was… interesting." Kakashi turned toward Obito.

Obito shrugged. "Yeah. You know what? Gai has become increasingly weird since the day you began to help him train."

Kakashi nodded at Obito's observation. "Yeah. He was always weird. I guess I just helped reveal it." Kakashi chuckled. "At least he isn't comparable to a mouse anymore."

"Yeah. He did look like a mouse for a while…" Obito concurred.

Kakashi threw a rock at him. "That's not what I meant Baka. I meant he was shy."

"OH!" Obito grinned. "I get it. Yeah. He was pretty shy for a while. Now he's just annoying."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Come on. We have a mission and Loco-sensei is waiting for us."

"Seriously, Kakashi. He isn't actually trying to kill you. He makes all of us do the D-ranked missions."

"Sure. Sure." Kakashi said dismissively. "Hey, are you planning on taking the Chuunin exams? You should. You've trained a lot and you've gained a lot of good skills." Kakashi thought back to the other timeline and remembered Obito's mediocre skills.

Obito's Sharingan hadn't awakened very early in the other timeline, because he really didn't have the skills to have a real fight. In this timeline, Kakashi was sure Obito's Sharingan would awaken within a few months or so. This was why Kakashi was constantly urging Minato to choose harder missions. The harder the missions, the sooner Obito would awaken his Sharingan.

When Obito had started training with Kakashi in the previous months, Obito had learned quickly and had picked up skills with the necessary precision. Kakashi knew, just from observing Obito, that Obito would soon be stronger than Kakashi had ever been. Also, Kakashi had decided he'd teach Obito Chidori once Obito's Sharingan awakened. He would teach Obito his signature move because he knew that the 'black sheep of the Uchiha clan' could become strong and plus, Kakashi realized, now that he didn't have Sharingan, he couldn't safely use the technique. He didn't want it to go to waste. In addition, in the future, when the Uchiha would be eliminated, Kakashi wanted Obito to be able to save himself and shield Sasuke from what would appear to be the truth.

He was abruptly brought out of his thoughts by a loud voice in front of him.

"Kakashi! Kakashi! Are you ok?" Obito shouted while waving his hands in front of Kakashi's face.

"Of course I am, Baka. Why wouldn't I be?" Kakashi's brow furrowed.

Obito looked at him incredulously. "Um, Kakashi? You were daydreaming for a while. It was… freaky. Are you ok?"

"A while? Huh? Daydre–" Kakashi hadn't known he was thinking so hard about Obito's skills. He shook his head to clear it.

"Are you OK, Kakashi?" Obito persisted.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly.

"What were you thinking about?" Obito asked curiously.

"I was just thinking," Kakashi, once again, had to be careful not to mention anything about the other timeline, "about our training. And about the Sharingan," he tacked on.

Obito stiffened at the mention of his weak point. "Sharingan? What about it?" he asked a little harshly.

"Well, to awaken it, you have to be in dangerous positions. Battles and such. Right?" Kakashi started.

"Yeah," Obito agreed, wondering where this would lead.

Kakashi turned to face Obito. "Obito, you skills are no longer mediocre." Obito cringed at the implication that his skills had once been bad. "With the Sharingan, you could be a powerful Shinobi. More powerful than me." Obito's eyes widened. "You will obviously have to understand how to use the Sharingan with efficiently. You shouldn't have trouble with that. But, Obito," Kakashi looked straight into Obito's eyes. "I won't allow you to be the black sheep of the Uchiha. Not any more."

Obito hugged his friend and felt the urge to cry. He'd never expected to find a best friend in Kakashi, let alone one who would do anything to help him utilize all of his strength and more.

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Obito and Kakashi met Rin and Minato at the training ground for their mission.

"Hey Obito! Hey Kakashi!" Minato waved.

"Hello Minato-sensei," Obito replied.

"Hello Murderer-sensei," Kakashi glared.

"For god's sake! I'm not trying to–"

"Shut up guys!" Rin exclaimed.

"Yeah. We have a mission to attend to," Obito agreed.

"Fine." Minato and Kakashi glared at each other.

After the team had left Konoha, they ran through the trees toward their target. Kakashi slowly caught up to Minato, who ran with a serious look. He could be annoying and rather stupid sometimes, but when it came to his team, a mission, or his friends, he was more serious than probably any other Shinobi. Minato glanced over at Kakashi.

"Screwy-sensei," Kakashi started. "What do you know about the Sharingan?"

"Not much." Minato shrugged, choosing to ignore how Kakashi had addressed him. "The Uchiha are generally careful not to allow any information out of the compound. That's why the entire clan lives together in one spot."

"Yes, that's true. They don't allow any Uchiha with knowledge of the Dojutsu out of the compound." Kakashi agreed. "Sensei, Obito will never awaken his Sharingan if he isn't in any dangerous positions," Kakashi stated bluntly.

Minato got the hint. "So you want us to go on harder missions so he can awaken his Sharingan sooner?"

"Yes. He and I have been training together a lot and I have observed his skills. With the right motivation, he learns quickly and efficiently. When he awakens his Sharingan, he could be an even more powerful Shinobi than me."

Minato raised his eyebrows. Had Obito ever been that strong? He idly wondered if Kakashi was exaggerating Obito's skills.

"Don't doubt it, sensei. He and I spar all the time. I've seen his skills. He fights well even when he is holding back."

Before Minato or Kakashi had a chance to continue, Obito and Rin caught up.

"What are you two talking about?" obit asked, wondering if he'd have to play peacekeeper again.

Rin shrugged and chuckled.

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Team Minato trudged back into Konoha covered in bruises and wounds. Obito carried Rin and could not see her weak, but bright blush. Minato had pretty much not sustained any injuries except a large cut across his face and an arm wrapped in dirty bandages. Kakashi's mask was partially ripped, but not enough to reveal any of his features. He was limping and looked as if all he wanted to do was sleep.

Minato glanced between the members of his team dutifully. The team had been forced to travel through the night to gain enough distance from the enemy lines. He could see their weariness in their body language.

"Loco-sensei," Kakashi started, breaking the dead silence. He was too tired to even attempt to make a new nickname. "We need to get Rin to the hospital. Sarutobi-sama will understand why we haven't submitted the mission report yet."

Minato nodded, his headache and weariness stopping him from arguing about the nickname. "Hai." He glanced at Rin and almost laughed as he saw her eyes closed and her deep blush as she nuzzled her head into Obito's shoulder.

Obito and Rin were following Kakashi and Minato back a few feet. Minato had had to prevent himself from rolling over in laughter when Obito had refused to allow anyone else to carry Rin.

"So, Kakashi. How long have they been dating?" Minato asked.

"Well, they won't _admit_ they're dating, but they definitely like each other… not that you couldn't see that from simply looking at them. They aren't exactly discreet." Kakashi chuckled hoarsely, then sighed.

When Kakashi arrived at his house, Kakashi met the one thing anyone who'd just been on a life or death mission would want to be welcomed by: the smell of fresh cooking. Kakashi smiled, knowing his father was aware of how hard the mission had been.

Sakumo stood in the kitchen, knowing Kakashi would be home soon. He'd spent the better part of the morning trying to use the can-opener and had finally finished making one of his best dishes. He knew Kakashi had been going on harder missions lately and that Kakashi wouldn't be feeling his greatest.

Sakumo sighed as he sensed Kakashi's chakra nearby. He'd never wanted his son to grow up during the war times. He'd never wanted his son to be the Shinobi that was sent into the small cracks only _he_ could fit into. He'd never wanted his son to have to use his small size to his advantage in a fight. More than that, though, he'd never wanted to fear whether his nine year-old Chuunin son would be deployed to go fight Iwagakure or not. He wished, with all his heart, that his son had not been born during the escalation of a Shinobi war.

Kakashi walked toward the house, using what remaining energy he had. He honestly just wanted some real food and to curl up on the couch with his Tochan.

He walked into the house and saw his father with a thoughtful look. Kakashi noted a hint of sadness. As Sakumo turned toward Kakashi, the look completely disappeared and was replaced by a wide, energetic smile.

"Hey, Tochan." Kakashi smiled, still feeling weak.

Sakumo noticed this and ushered Kakashi to the living room. Sakumo sat Kakashi on the couch and put a soft fleece blanket over him. Kakashi curled up under it and leaned his head back against the couch. Sakumo walked out of the room into the kitchen.

Kakashi sat in a sleeplike state without much thought. He wondered if he should be worrying about Rin or Obito, but then decided that he should just relax. His Otousan walked into the room a few minutes later holding an extremely large bowl of ramen.

Kakashi slowly opened his eyes and welcomed the sight of his father sitting next to his, quietly coaxing him to eat the food. Kakashi didn't hesitate to push the scalding hot food into his mouth. He let his mind turn off and focused solely on the food.

Sakumo watched as his son shoveled the food into his mouth. He could see Kakashi slowly allowing himself to forget his surroundings and focus on nothing. Kakashi's empty eyes pushed Sakumo to wonder what had happened on the mission.

Their mission had been to deliver a scroll to the front-line Shinobi. Though it was a dangerous mission, they had been with four ANBU escorts, so they shouldn't have ha to face very much.

Kakashi stared at his food emptily. Though he'd pretty much turned his mind off, he couldn't help but think about the mission. All four ANBU escorts had been defeated and Team Minato had had to face six Iwa ninja on their own. After the team had suffered quite a few injuries, Minato had put an end to the enemy Shinobi in a flash.

"Kakashi, what happened?" Sakumo stared at the wall on the opposite side of the room.

"We fought six Iwa ninja." Kakashi said slowly.

"Six," Sakumo repeated, voice going cold.

"Yep." Kakashi said hesitantly hesitated.

Sakumo abruptly looked at his son wide-eyed. His son, his little Kakashi, should never have had to see _that_.

"Yeah," Gulp. "The ANBU never made it back."

Sakumo's eyes widened further and hugged his blanketed son closer to his side.

Kakashi let out a small chuckle. "But I'm pretty sure Obito and Rin are dating now."

Sakumo closed his eyes sadly.

"Tochan, what's wrong?" for some reason, Kakashi had a bad feeling in his gut. He couldn't place the source, though.

"Kakashi, I have a mission. An important one. It is going to be long and dangerous," Sakumo said sadly.

Kakashi's features went dead. He felt like he'd been stabbed in the heart. It was as if he'd had a revelation. A dark one. Everything came back to him at once. _This_ was the mission. Kakashi wanted to beg his father not to go, but his voice wouldn't work and he knew he wouldn't and probably couldn't even ask for such a thing.

Sakumo watched his son become deadly still. His son had never looked like this before. Sakumo realized he'd never seen anyone with that look. It was as if Kakashi _knew_ this mission would fail and the results.

It was as if Kakashi was seeing the entire mission through the eyes of a Sharingan user. To Kakashi, that was how it was.

Kakashi began to feel sick. This feeling: it was and if he still had Sharingan and was seeing his father dieing again and again. '_No! No! Please! No!_' he clutched his head. '_There has to be an alternative._'

Kakashi continued to clutched his head and stare at nothing as he began to drift to sleep deep in thought. The previous mission lost ground as his father's mission took its toll on his mind.

The weary Kakashi wanted nothing more than to sleep. He could figure out a solution to his problem tomorrow.

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Kakashi woke up a very uncomfortable position. '_Oh man! That's the last time I go to sleep sitting upright._' As his mind became more aware, he heard two voices in the other room. One voice was Sakumo's, and the other was Minato's.

"…been asleep for a while. I wonder if he's OK." Worry could be heard in Sakumo's voice.

"He's OK. We had a long mission." Minato consoled his friend's worries. "But Sakumo, he," Minato paused, going very serious. "He killed three enemy Shinobi, Sakumo. He–he didn't even blink. He didn't falter."

Kakashi looked at his feet sadly. Was that what killing had become to him? Something he didn't even think about? He had never really thought about such things from anyone else's point of view.

"Yes, Sakumo," Minato answered some unheard question. "The enemy Shinobi had injured Obito and Rin. Kakashi had killed them… more for protection than heartlessness. Kakashi isn't heartless."

The two men sighed resignedly. Kakashi chose that moment to yawn loudly.

"Good morning, Kakashi!" Sakumo walked into the room with a huge grin. Any signs of the previous conversation were missing.

"Good morning, Tochan!" Kakashi hopped up to hug Sakumo. "Hey, Loco-sensei!" He hugged Minato. "How long have I been asleep?" Kakashi asked.

"Kakashi, talk slower. You're going to give yourself brain damage," Sakumo advised his energetic son. "And you've been asleep for about 36 hours," Sakumo added, his voice expressing his worry.

"Well," Kakashi stretched his arms out and yawned. "I feel _much_ better now." He skipped in the direction of the kitchen. "I think I want a bagel."

Sakumo and Minato looked at each other and shrugged. They followed Kakashi into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

Kakashi pulled out some plates from the cabinet and had begun hunting through the fridge for something to eat.

"Ouch." A jar fell on Kakashi's head. "That hurt." He got something to eat and sat down at the table.

"Kakashi, let me explain a few of the Facts of Life to you." Minato began. "You see, when someone wakes up from a 36 hour slumber, they tend to feel _groggy_." He briefly glanced at Sakumo, but he continued. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" he demanded.

Kakashi smiled, but he had food in his mouth, so Sakumo and Minato both yelled for him to close his mouth.

Kakashi swallowed and grinned. Sakumo rolled his eyes and headed toward the door.

"I have a mission, I'll be back tonight."

When he had left, Kakashi turned toward Minato seriously. His face showed no humor whatsoever.

"I need to talk to you." Kakashi folded his arms in front of his small but muscular chest. His hands tensed as the memories he'd always tried to forget fought their way to the surface. "Dammit," Kakashi mumbled. He needed Minato's help.

"Kakashi, what's wrong?" Minato asked, voice laced with worry for his student, his best friend's son, someone who he loved like family.

Though Minato's antics, to Kakashi, were very far beyond annoying, he knew this man would and could help him save his Otousan. Last time, Team Minato had been on a mission, but it hadn't been that important, so they could probably skip out on it this time.

"Otousan has an important mission in two weeks–" Kakashi's voice shook. "And–and I–" he sighed.

"Kakashi, what is it? What's wrong?" Minato tried to console his clearly upset student.

"Sensei, I have faith in Tochan. So much faith, but the village's morals are… are _wrong_!" Kakashi couldn't help the tears that rolled quickly down his masked face. He doubted he'd even be able to suppress it had he been in his "cool- collected", elderly body. "Tochan would save a teammate if he was hurt, and it's _not wrong_!" he exclaimed.

Minato stood up and walked over to Kakashi. He sat in the chair next to Kakashi and out a hand on his shoulder supportively. "You're right, Kakashi."

"Then why did they _do_ it?" Kakashi tightened his folded arms around himself, ignoring Minato's confused look.

"Do what?" Minato asked.

"Um…" Kakashi wiped his eyes and looked at his sensei. "Sensei," he began. "Please– Please go on Tochan's mission. It's a lot to ask. But I–I have a ba–bad feeling about it." Kakashi asked quietly.

Minato knew, seeing more emotion from Kakashi than he'd ever seen from him before, that he could not refuse. Even if he had wanted to. He couldn't fathom what was bothering Kakashi to such a degree, but he would let Kakashi tell him if he wanted to. He hugged Kakashi. "OK. Agreed." To Minato's satisfaction, Kakashi gladly returned the hug, though Minato was sure Kakashi was wiping his nose on him.

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Omake:

Kakashi glared.

Minato glared.

Kakashi glared.

Minato glared.

Kakashi glared.

Minato glared.

Kakashi glared.

Minato glared.

Kakashi glared.

"You won't get away from me, Kakashi, I promise."

Kakashi considered the chances of hitting Konoha's Yellow Flash with a Chidori, even though he didn't have his Sharingan any more.

"Want to bet?" Kakashi smiled evilly.

"Kakashi! Don't fight sensei! You'll lose!"

Kakashi felt a hint of annoyance. Just because she was no longer a fan-girl didn't mean she could _try_ to support him. Obito stood by a tree, doubling over in laughter. That also annoyed Kakashi. Without glancing back at Minato, he ran toward the trees. He ran, head first, into his sensei.

"Ouch! That hurt!" Kakashi fell onto the ground.

"Come on, Kakashi! D-Ranked missions aren't _that_ bad," Obito said. Minato nodded his agreement.

Kakashi looked around. He was surrounded. He stood with a sigh.

"I'll get you back, Cheese-Head-sensei."

"…Cheese…Head?" Minato asked slowly.

"Yes. Cheese-Head. Deal with it."


	6. Chapter 6: Falling

**Raiton: Eien Shi translates into Lightning Style: Eternity Death. In addition, because Obito was not alive very long, his only known Chakra Affinity is fire. He may or may not have any other affinity, but for the purposes of EeBee-kohai's story and Obito's awesomeness, he is also a Lightning Affinity. Also, EeBee-kohai doesn't know much about Anko. On _Narutopedia_, she is said to has little known family, and they tend to be mostly accurate. In EeBee-kohai's story, her Tochan's name is Mosuke and her mom's name is Tsara. If you know their real names, if they are even known, please, please tell EeBee-kohai!**

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**Falling**

"So, what should I call it, Obito?" Kakashi asked his friend happily.

"Hmm… maybe… Chidori?" Obito suggested.

Kakashi sweat-dropped. "Uh… I already have a Jutsu called Chidori."

"You do?" Obito raised his eyebrows. "Geez. No wonder they call you 'Tensai'. Show it to me again." He stepped out of the way.

Kakashi leaned slightly forward and made the bear, rabbit, and dog seals. He held his right hand out slightly in front of him and put his left hand on his right arm. He began to channel chakra through his arm to his hand. His characteristic silver 'Hatake Chakra' swelled in his hand, forming a silver ball. Black lightning began to form around the edges of the ball. The lightning and chakra weaved together, creating thin, silvery beams. Kakashi held it steadily away from himself and ran forward.

He pushed the ball into a tree. The tree leaves burnt right away and the bark and trunk slowly, painfully, sizzled away.

Obito gulped. He was suddenly glad to be on Kakashi's good side. "Uh… COOL!" He hopped over to Kakashi.

"Dammit," Kakashi mumbled, nursing his hand.

"What happened?" Obito asked, peaking over Kakashi's shoulder.

"It burned my glove." Kakashi held up his hand for Obito to see. "It didn't harm my skin, though."

"Hehe," Obito chuckled. Kakashi glared. "I think you should call it…" Obito thought for a moment. "Raiton: Eien Shi. Hey, that's pretty cool!" Obito grinned stupidly.

Kakashi smiled happily. He had a new signature move. He had created an alternative Jutsu that didn't give him tunnel vision and didn't sound like birds. "Yay! Now I can assassinate people quietly!"

Obito looked at his friend with wide eyes and 'eep'-ed. "Eh?"

"Oh. My other Jutsu was too loud to kill people properly."

Obito looked like he was going to faint. "Wha-WHAT?"

"I'm kidding. Well, sort of," he corrected. "Want me to teach it to you?"

"Raiton: Eien Shi?" Obito asked incredulously.

"No. You don't have the right chakra. It has to be the silver chakra my Tochan and I have. I was actually talking about my Chidori."

"You want to teach me your thousand birds? Is that even proper grammar?"

Kakashi sweat-dropped. "Um. Obito? Chidori is the _name of the technique_. I just told you that."

"Oh. Ok." Obito scratched his head.

"So, do you want me to teach it to you?" Kakashi pressed.

"Uh… do you have twenty toes? Hell yes!" Obito exclaimed.

"I only have ten toes," Kakashi pointed out.

"Oh, yeah." Obito looked down at his feet as he counted his own toes.

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"Hey Kakashi! Hey Obito!" Anko shouted as she ran to meet the two.

"Hey Anko! How was your vacation?" Kakashi asked.

Anko glared. "First of all, it was a training thingy for the academy, and second, it was long," she stated simply.

"No kidding," Obito mumbled. "You've been gone for three weeks."

Anko looked at Kakashi strangely. She turned back to Obito and the 'look' left as fast as it had come.

'_Well, that was weird._' Kakashi shrugged.

"So, Anko and Kakashi," Obito coughed pointedly. "What do _you_ two plan to do today?" his voice was laced with sarcasm and an obvious Intent to Report All of it Back to His Sensei.

The Intent made Kakashi gasp for air. Anko punched him.

"What was that for?" Kakashi asked.

"You're being stupid," she grumbled.

"Bye-bye, lovebirds." Obito waved and began to walk away.

Anko threw a hale of Kunai at Obito and turned toward Kakashi. "So, what's our training for today?"

Kakashi thought for a moment. "Hmm. Run twenty laps around Konoha."

Anko's eyes widened. "What the hell? That's twenty laps around _an entire village_!"

"So?"

"Twenty laps aro-_twenty laps around Konoha_. Do you understand? That's twenty laps around _AN ENTIRE VILLAGE_!"

Kakashi looked at her blankly. "Yeah," he answered.

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Anko lay on the ground far beyond out of breath. She'd been in the middle of her fourteenth lap when she'd fainted from exhaustion. Kakashi chuckled.

Minato checked up on the two just then and could only wonder what Kakashi had done.

"Kakashi, is she ok?"

"Hmm. I dunno'."

Minato rolled his eyes and checked Anko's pulse.

"Minato?" Kakashi stopped him.

"Yeah?" Minato looked up.

"I-I'm worried about Tochan."

Minato sighed understandingly. The mission. Minato still didn't understand how or why Kakashi knew so much about his Otousan's mission, but if Minato's beloved prodigal student was worried enough that he'd turn to his sensei for help, Minato wouldn't be the one to turn him down.

After dropping Anko off at her house, Minato led Kakashi to his home.

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"What's bothering you, kid?"

"You know," Kakashi said quietly. "I worry that nothing can help Tochan."

"You mean for Sakumo's mission?"

"Yeah."

"Kakashi, I am going, your Tochan is going, and other ninja is pretty well known."

"What's the other ninja's name?"

"Heck if I know," Minato answered thoughtlessly.

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Later on, when Anko had recovered from her exhaustion and Minato had sufficiently chastised Kakashi for his _training_ methods––Anko called them his _murder_ methods––Anko and Kakashi were talking to Minato.

Anko stood next to Kakashi in the training grounds looking up at Minato. She didn't really know the tall blonde man, because she'd almost always trained solely with Kakashi. Kakashi knew him pretty well.

Kakashi and Minato talked quietly. Anko noticed an understanding the two had that neither one wished to talk about. It was as if the two knew exactly how the other felt and how to deal with the other. Anko found herself admiring the relationship. Those two were like family. Anko smiled happily. Kakashi had sure changed. Not only that, but he'd changed very much for the better.

'_But then again,'_ she thought. _'That's how people are with people close to them.'_ She frowned and looked at the ground. Kakashi had so many people close to him. Minato, Sakumo, Obito, Asuma, Gai (sort of), and, despite how much she wished to be a stoic, cold-hearted Shinobi, he had her. But she felt like those people were _Kakashi's_ people. Not hers. Her mother was always there for Anko when Anko really needed her, but her Otousan had died long ago and most of her clan had succeeded in becoming stoic, cold-hearted Shinobi.

She looked up from the ground and forced herself to smile. Kakashi looked at her and confusion crossed over his features.

"…Anyways, guys, I've gotta go. Bye!" Minato waggled his eyebrows at Kakashi and walked away.

Kakashi turned to Anko. "What's up?" He put his hand on her lower arm when she didn't respond. "Anko, really, what's wrong?"

"Hmm… I just…" She sighed and sat on the ground, putting her chin in her hands. "Well, I was watching you and Minato, and," she lifted her head and looked at her hands. "I got… kind of… jealous."

Kakashi raised his eyebrows. "Jealous?" he repeated.

"Yeah." She looked at him and frowned. "I can see how close you are to him. He's like a second Otousan to you."

Kakashi thought for a moment. After his Otousan had died in the other timeline, Minato had been the one to keep him alive. He always had been like a second Otousan to Kakashi.

"I have my mom, yeah. She and I are… pretty close." Her voice held a bit of doubt. "I mean, she's my mom. But the rest of my family are so coldhearted."

Kakashi understood. Compared to him, she felt like she didn't have many special people. "Anko, you have me," he said simply.

Anko stared at him, eyes growing wide.

Kakashi sat down next to her and gave her a big hug.

"Thank you, Kakashi." She hugged him back after a moment.

"Want to go get some barbeque?" he asked.

Anko peered at him from the corner of her eyes. "Why do you always try to be so nice to me?"

Kakashi blushed bright red. "Um…I-uh-I-uh-I-uh," he stuttered. "Hehe."

Anko shrugged and dragged Kakashi to the barbeque stand.

Kakashi noticed as she dragged him rather violently that she did not let go of his hand. He chuckled.

Anko raised an eyebrow at him. He lifted his still-held hand up, and Anko laughed embarrassedly as she shoved his hand away.

Kakashi's laughter increased.

"No fair! You're mean!" she exclaimed.

Kakashi shrugged. Anko, believe it or not (believe it!), blushed. Violently.

"Come on, I'm hungry!" Kakashi said impatiently.

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Team Minato sat in the Hokage's Office, listening the Sandaime Hokage talk. Well, most of them were. Kakashi was contemplating how to get Anko's family not to kill him and not get his butt kicked. The Mitarashi clan tended to be violent at the least.

"Kakashi, are you even listening?" the Hokage asked.

"Not a bit," Kakashi answered without hesitation.

Minato nudged him and whispered, "He was asking you if you would be willing to lead the team on a C-ranked mission while I'm on the mission with your Tochan."

"Oh. Ok. Thanks," Kakashi replied to Minato. "Yeah, sure," he said to the Hokage.

"Nice to hear it, Kakashi. It's an easy mission. It's pretty much ranked between a D and C ranking. Here," Sarutobi handed Kakashi a small red and white scroll.

They were dismissed from the room, and went in their own directions. Minato went home, hoping Kushina wouldn't yell at him for merely being alive. Boy, could that woman get grumpy.

Rin gave Obito a quick hug and sauntered off to train. Obito and Kakashi went to the Uchiha Compound to play games and watch movies for a few hours. Well, all in all, life was good for Kakashi.

Until the video player wouldn't work and the TV fell on top of him.

While Obito was occupied with laughing his butt off and trying to stand up, Obito's Otousan walked in and lifted the extremely heavy television off of Kakashi.

"Um, how much did that cost?" Kakashi asked slowly.

Obito's Otousan raised an eyebrow at the nine-year-old.

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"Kakashi, I just had to buy a very expensive TV. You should work on your clumsiness."

Kakashi grimaced and tried his best to make Puppy Dog Eyes.

"Nope, not going to work," Sakumo shook his head.

"Sorry, Tochan."

"Oh, yeah. I just remembered; do you by any chance know why Anko's mother and sister came up to me yesterday and tried to kill me?"

"Oh. Did they?" Kakashi glanced up at his Otousan innocently.

"Yep. They did."

"Well…Uh…I dunno'…" Kakashi feigned innocence.

"You mean those crazy people who have unhealthy obsessions with knives had no reason to threaten my life, whatsoever?"

"Yep!" Kakashi smiled.

Sakumo ruffled Kakashi's hair. "Trust you to befriend a scary girl. Even _I_ find her scary."

"You get used to it. The scariness," he clarified. "And the unhealthy love for sharp objects," Kakashi added.

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Kakashi had never really been one to fret. He worried, sure. It was a ninja thing to worry. It was a civilian thing to fret. He was really doing more than worrying _or_ fretting. He was, honest-to-god, about to throw up, he was so nervous.

His Otousan was in his room, packing his bag for his mission and humming to himself. (Yes: Konoha's White Fang was humming to himself.)

Kakashi sat on his bed and looked at the poster on his wall. The one of Sakumo, Kushina, Minato, and him. Until he'd come back in time, Kakashi had never cared much about the picture or even the picture's meaning.

Now, staring at it, it reminded him of what he truly held special. It had once reminded him of what he hadn't had and why he wanted to protect it so bad. When Kakashi had left his home when his Otousan had commit Seppuku, Kakashi had left this poster, not wanting to remember or reminisce on his hurt. Now, even if he failed to save his Otousan, he'd never—_no!_ He'd save his Otousan, no doubt.

In the picture, Sakumo stood behind his son protectively. He also had bunny-ears up behind Kakashi's head. But he still stood protectively; ready to pounce into Otousan Mode at any moment.

Kakashi frowned. What in the world had given his Tochan the idea that committing Seppuku was a good idea?

Kakashi sighed and walked out of the room.

Sakumo looked up and stopped humming as Kakashi stood in the door.

"Hey, little 'Kashi." Sakumo stood up and walked over to Kakashi.

Kakashi grimaced at his feet. "Good luck on your mission, Tochan."

Sakumo raised a silver eyebrow. "Yeah, thanks, little guy."

Kakashi scowled. "I'm not that little."

Sakumo chuckled lightly. "OK. Want to go get some Dango before I leave?"

Kakashi felt like his heart missed a beat. (Not literally. That would be bad.) Here it was. One of his worst experiences ever was so close to reoccurring. Kakashi gulped. "Sure."

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"Kakashi, you haven't eaten much…" Sakumo noted.

"Huh? Oh. I was zoned out," Kakashi explained.

Sakumo shrugged "I saw. You should eat, though." He sighed. "I hope this mission isn't too boring. At least Minato will be there for company."

Kakashi snorted. "And he'll make it _more_ interesting?"

"You should be nicer to him, Kakashi. You used to think of him like family."

"I still do," Kakashi answered immediately. At Sakumo's confused glance, he elaborated. "I know he'd give his own life to protect me, and I'd do the same for him. We both understand that my name-calling is just teasing. I consider him to be like… a second Otousan, I guess. He means a lot to me, but if I just said, 'Minato-sensei, I love you like a second Otousan!' all the time, I think our bond would get annoying very fast."

Sakumo smiled and chuckled at his son. He was rather surprised, though. He had not really expected this mindset from his son. In fact, it didn't seem like an attitude some older ninja _ever_ had. Some people believed that one must always be serious or always joking. But who knew? His son _was_ a Tensai, after all.

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Kakashi, Minato, Sakumo, and some guy Kakashi had never seen before stood outside the Hatake home before the worrisome mission. If it weren't for the other people being there, Kakashi was sure he'd be in hysterics. The only other thing, other than said people, that kept him from going off the deep end was a single nagging question in the back of his head.

Who the heck was that other person?

The man hadn't been on the mission in the other timeline. Kakashi airily wondered if he'd screwed up the timeline at all. Probably just a tad…

"Bye, Kakashi. I'll be home in a few days. Hopefully about a week." Sakumo hugged Kakashi and ruffled his hair.

Minato bear hugged Kakashi. "Bye-bye, buddy!"

"Ugh. Get off." At Minato's sulking expression, Kakashi sighed. "Bye, Stinky-sensei."

"Can't you even use my real name in a very dramatic moment?" Minato exclaimed.

"'_Dramatic moment_'? My Tochan hugged me and said goodbye then you bear hugged me and said, '_Bye-bye, buddy_'! That's a really stupid thing to say, especially if your name is Namikaze Minato…but then everything you say is stupid…" Kakashi trailed off.

Minato frowned and stuck his tongue out.

"Bye, Sensei. Bye, Tochan!"

Minato, Sakumo, and the other guy turned toward the gates of Konoha and ran forward, only thinking of the eventual success of the mission. It had been made clear that failure was not an option. Kakashi had seen what would happen if failure did occur. It wouldn't be pretty.

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Sitting around the house doing nothing was not an activity to look forward to. Kakashi sat on the couch with a thick _orange_ book (Kakashi! Tsk! Tsk! Icha Icha when you're nine years old? Wait a minute! Icha Icha hasn't been written yet! My mind will fry in 5…4…3…2…), waiting for tomorrow to arrive so he could get out of the house and lead his 'first' mission.

Kakashi honestly wondered if he should be more excited. It wasn't as if he'd never led a mission before, but he was really worried. He'd had his own _team_ of students in the other time line. He had just expected that his nine-year old self would feel at least a _little_ excitement.

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Kakashi had gotten very nervous over the past few hours. So nervous, in fact, he found it hard to hold his glass in his hand, thus causing the glass to slip and fall onto the ground, shattering.

In the end, Kakashi sat down to try and find something to occupy his mind.

That is why, an hour later, he busied himself pulling some sickly green round objects out of the oven.

'_Well they _look_ like cookies…sort of…maybe they'll taste like cookies…'_ He shrugged.

Kakashi was in the middle of being attacked by a very large metal pan when a loud knock sounded at the door.

Kakashi answered the door and was surprised to see Anko's mother. Her face was not twisted in rage, nor aggravated by the tiniest annoyances, but it looked kind.

Kakashi instantly felt worried. "Uh… Hi, Tsara-sama," he said.

"Hi, Kakashi-kun. How are you?"

"Good…? You wanna' come in?" He moved out of the way and held the door open for her. He escorted her into the kitchen.

"You wanna' cookie?" Kakashi asked absently.

She stared pointedly for a moment at the green, round object. "_Is_ that a cookie?"

Kakashi glanced at the object in question. "Oops. Sorry. I made these… um… cookies earlier. And… well… I'm not quite sure if they are edible."

Anko's mother, now known as Tsara, rolled her eyes. "It's OK. I can check to see if it is edible."

Kakashi granted her a sidelong glance. "…"

She chewed on the cookie thoughtfully, her mind _obviously_ somewhere else. "Kakashi, I was wondering if you could update me on Anko's training."

"Can't you ask her?" Kakashi asked.

"Listen, moron." Obviously having a very bad and extreme reaction to such a simple question, Mitarashi Tsara pulled out an extremely shiny kunai. The Mitarashi sure like their kunai shiny… "I can't just ask her. She doesn't talk to me. In fact, she barely talks to anyone. I think she only talks to you because you two have the ho–"

"Oh my Kami! I'm nine! I'm not trying to cause trouble, Tsara-sama." Kakashi glanced around nervously. '_Carrot peeler…cookie cutter…and some flour…need an escape Jutsu, now!_'

She put the extremely shiny kunai away. "Sorry. It was my reflexes," she said by way of explanation.

"Tsara-sama, I can tell you about her training, but I still suggest you ask her yourself." '_Geez! What is with the Mitarashi clan? They're a crazy that makes Uchiha Madara look sane!_'

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"That's it, Hatake! You're so dead! What did you say to my mother? Eh?" Anko stalked up closer to the young silver haired ninja as to attempt to brutally and painfully murder him.

"Eep! I only told her to ask you about your training instead of asking me!"

"'_Only_'? '_ONLY_'? I came home yesterday and she wouldn't stop asking me questions!" Anko fumed.

Kakashi wondered how the nine-year old had managed to become so violent. That thought was quickly replaced by the thoughts of one who dearly feared for his life.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! That's my arm! Ouch! Oh! I'm gonna' die!"

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Kakashi awoke to the sound of the annoying beep that sounded from his alarm clock. If it weren't for the fact that he was too tired to actually move, he would have broken it to pieces by now.

"Gah! No! Need sleepy!" he mumbled loudly.

He dragged himself out of bed and proceeded to take a quick shower, get dressed, and fall asleep again.

An hour later, he woke up to the sound of a loud thumping on his front door.

"Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh," he grumbled as trudged down the stairs. He opened the door to Obito and Rin. "Good–yawn–morning."

Obito rolled his eyes. "Come on, Scarecrow. Your half an hour late for the first mission your ever going to lead!"

Kakashi tried to stop the chuckle that threatened to erupt. '_Yeah, first…riiiiight…_'

"Geez! He's later than me!" Obito exclaimed.

"Knowing Kakashi, he'll be late for his own wedding," Rin muttered.

Strangely enough, when Kakashi and Anko had married in the other timeline, he had been early…and with no death threats from _anyone_.

"Nah. Anko wouldn't allow that." Obito made some rather un-enticing kissing noises toward Kakashi.

"Oh, Kami! Come on, guys." Kakashi locked his door and led the team to the gates of Konoha.

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Kakashi, Rin, and Obito walked through the forest slowly. This mission—Kakashi was sure of it—was most definitely payback for Kakashi calling Minato names. It was as if Minato had searched for the worst possible mission in existence in the depths of the Missions Office, where nobody sane would look.

Kakashi's 'first' mission was to escort an annoyingly loud fifteen-year old girl to the Country of Wave. Recently, the girl had taken it upon herself to squeal and do everything she could to pull Kakashi's mask off and pinch his cheeks.

Obito couldn't get enough of it. To him, this was pure entertainment of the best kind.

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Omake: Here are some of my bloopers:

Obito popped up. "Oh!"

"Obito, what the heck? We are having a _private_ moment here," Kakashi yelled.

Anko buried her face in her hands.

Kakashi threw another one of those convenient rocks at Obito, who promptly disappeared. "Oh, he can use shadow clones," Kakashi remarked. Then he went back to huggin' his sweet little snake lover from Hell.

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Kakashi shrugged, while Anko, believe it or not (believe it!), blushed. Violently. Maliciously. With a great Killing Intent. He died.

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Team Minato sat in the Hokage's Office, listening the Sandaime Hokage bang on and on cause the old fart just wouldn't shut up already.

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Obito and Kakashi went to the Uchiha Compound to play games and watch movies for a few minutes.


	7. Chapter 7: Staring

**EeBee-kohai has issues. No joke! Please sign the petition to get her committed to a mental hospital! Oh, yeah, and credit goes to _Sarah1281_ for the MSR, or the Minimum Sanity Requirement.**

**EeBee-kohai was at McDonalds and then Lil' DeiDei said (talking about her fries), "Mine's bigger!"**

**EeBee-kohai replied, "Tobi likes Deidara's big ones!"**

**EeBee-kohai is officially a pervert. EEEEWWWWW!**

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**Staring**

Kakashi, Obito, and Rin trudged through the forest to get back home to Konoha. Kakashi was glad to be done with this mission. The girl they had been asked to escort had probably won metals for how annoying she was. She had reminded Kakashi of "fan-girl-Sakura" except that she was easily one and a half times as old as Kakashi, and thus she was only the exceptionally annoying part, not the fan-girl part.

So basically, the girl was just an annoying fan-girl and the entire Sakura comparison could have been avoided.

"Kakashi, its a good thing you brought a spare mask. That girl was pretty intent on taking it off. Oh, and when she said, 'Now, we'll be best-est friends! Just show me under your ma-ask,' I almost died! Oh, the hilarity!" Obito stifled another fit of laughter.

Rin giggled into her arm and pretended to cough. She'd been doing that a lot lately…

Kakashi sighed as he arrived at the giant, unmovable, and rather unusable gates of Konoha. There really was no point in them, as Tsunade was the only person who could move them, unless, of course, Gai and Lee took on a bunch of apprentices and became the "Gate Opening Crew", or the GOC.

"Let's go hand in the mission report and train. I wanna' learn some techniques to get rid of annoying stalkers and Raiton: Eien Shi is way too powerful."

Obito blinked. "That's what Konoha's Secret Technique is for."

"Secret Technique?" Kakashi asked slowly, feeling uneasy, and vaguely remembering what Obito was talking about…

Obito activated his recently awakened Sharingan. "KONOHA'S SECRET TECHNIQUE: PAIN OF A THOUSAND YEARS!" Obito rammed his fingers into Kakashi's butt while Rin leaned against a tree laughing so hard she almost fell over.

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"Kakashi, are you OK? You're walking kinda' funny," Obito noted.

Kakashi glared. "If _someone_ hadn't tried to kill me with a Chakra enforced poke up the butt, I wouldn't be walking funny."

"I think that technique is funny," Rin began. "But it might not be a good idea to use it on someone you're meant to be escorting, let alone a civilian."

Obito nodded sagely. "Foolish human, I eat civilians like you for breakfast!"

Rin and Kakashi blinked. Kakashi threw another conveniently located rock at Obito.

"Ouch! What was that for?" Obito whined.

"You're a moron. Even your girlfriend seems to think so," Kakashi replied.

Rin nodded fiercely.

"She's not my girlfriend…!" Obito shouted, blushing. "I'm only nine, for Kami's sake!"

"Love waits for nothing!" Kakashi spun around dreamily.

"What the heck, Kakashi? That's something I'd expect Rin to do. Or that Shizune girl," Obito said.

"Well, excuse _me_ for trying to have an entertaining conversation." Kakashi stuck out his tongue and threw yet another conveniently located rock. Kakashi sure loved his rocks.

"Oh, Geez! Let's go find Anko, Asuma, and Gai," Rin mumbled.

Kakashi shook his head at his friends before leading them away.

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"Kakashi, I thought Gai scared you," Rin commented.

Kakashi looked at her. "He does! His evil green jumpsuit of craziness, combined with his bowl-cut, his eyebrows the size of all the Shinobi lands combined, and his strange obsession with Youth and Passion can scare even the Yondaime out of his wits!" Kakashi shuddered.

"Yeah, Kakashi, sorry to doubt your mental abilities, but who taught you to count? Sarutobi Hiruzen-sama is the Sandaime, not the Yondaime," Obito corrected.

Kakashi suddenly felt stupid for forgetting that his sensei would not become Hokage for a few more years. He shrugged. "So apparently my counting skills stop at three; what about it?"

Obito rolled his eyes. Kakashi threw another rock at him.

"Where do you get all those rocks from, Kakashi?" Rin asked, wondering what the chances were that Kakashi might embed a rock in Obito's skull. Seeing as it was in fact Kakashi who was throwing said rocks, the possibility was high. She frowned. "Kakashi, I think you might want to stop trying to embed rocks in Obito's head."

Kakashi frowned at her. "Nyah!" HHHe stuck his tongue out at her.

"You are disgusting."

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"…And so, they were running and it was _hilarious_!" Asuma laughed as he finished recounting the story of a recent mission.

Kakashi smiled as Gai shouted something about Youth and Passion. Their current group consisted of Kakashi, Anko, Rin, Asuma, Gai, Kotetsu, and Izumo.

"Let's get something to eat," Anko suggested. "I want Dango."

"Sure."

"Yup."

"Cool."

"Sounds good!"

"Alright."

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"This is yummy!" Kakashi exclaimed.

"Geez, Kakashi! What's wrong with you? You're so loud!" Kotetsu complained.

Kakashi frowned. In the time since he'd come back, he hadn't really seen Izumo and Kotetsu much, but Anko liked to hang out with them.

"Sorry. I discovered my inner self the other day and it keeps making me jabber on about who-knows-what!" Kakashi exclaimed.

Anko blinked. "Do you ever notice that ninja aren't sane?"

"Look who's talking…" Asuma muttered.

Anko glared and pulled out a kunai.

"Yikes! Sorry, Anko!"

Kakashi grinned and noted that a few tables away, Genma and Raidou were eating. He trotted over to them.

"Hey, Genma and Raidou! You guys should come eat with us. We already have a huge group, so two more won't be a bother. Plus, we need more sane people."

Genma raised a thin eyebrow. "Sane?" He glanced at Raidou.

Kakashi shrugged. "Well, sort of. I wouldn't call you sane normally, but you're ninja, so insanity is a given. You're saner than Sideshow Bob, at least."

"…Sideshow Bob…?" Raidou asked.

"Yeah, you know, Kotetsu," Kakashi clarified.

Genma glanced at Raidou. "…OK…"

"Anyway, come on. We've got some extra seats."

Genma shrugged. "Sure."

"OK," Raidou nodded.

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Kakashi, Rin, Obito and Anko were at the gates of Konoha, waiting for Sakumo, Minato, and the 'other guy'.

"So bored!" Obito complained.

To Obito's surprise, Kakashi didn't throw a rock at him or say anything whatsoever. He just stared nervously out past the giant, useless gates of Konoha.

"Hey, Kakashi, you shouldn't let yourself get so worked up," Obito suggested quietly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I know." Kakashi looked at the ground.

Anko, Rin, and Obito walked over to Kakashi.

"You know the saying, 'the pot never kettles when you boil it'?" Obito asked solemnly.

"The saying is, 'the kettle/pot never boils if you watch it'," Kakashi corrected.

Obito grinned. "I like my version better."

"You're a Baka," Anko said.

"Anyway, if you watch the gates, they aren't gonna' come back any faster. So loosen up."

Kakashi looked down at the ground. He shrugged.

"Let's play rock-paper-scissors," Anko said.

"OK," Obito replied.

"Yeesh. Oh, look. It's Sensei and Tochan!" Kakashi shouted.

"Eep! You're so loud, Kakashi!" Rin covered her ears.

"Tochan! Tochan! YIPPEE!" Kakashi danced around happily.

"I used to like him?" Rin asked rhetorically.

"I _do_ like him," Anko said.

"Chill out, Kakashi," Obito said.

"Ugh, whatever! TOOOOCHAAAAAAAANNNN! WOOOOOOHHHHOOOOOOOOO!" He ran toward Sakumo at full speed.

"Yikes! Slow down bo—Ack!" Sakumo was cut off by Kakashi attacking him in Killer Hug no Jutsu.

"So, how'd the mission go? You beat everyone? Of course! You're Konoha's White Fang! Duh! Did you go BAM and use your awesomely cool ninja skills against evil people? Oh my Kami! There's a cut on your arm! HELP! We're gonna' get you to a hospital! Hurry, Tochan! DON'T DIE! They might have to amputate your arm! Oh, noes!"

Sakumo looked from his son, who was dragging Sakumo to the hospital, to his arm. He hadn't even seen or felt a cut. The cut was not even the size of a needle and was already scabbing up. Sakumo smiled and ruffled Kakashi's hair. He picked his son up and put him on his shoulder.

"Wow! The view from up here is high!"

"You talk a lot," Sakumo chuckled.

"Hehe. Sorry. Oh, yeah. I made dinner at home, but you smell bad, so you need a shower."

"Kakashi!" Rin shouted from below. "You are so rude!"

"He's my Tochan."

"Which means I can kick your nine-year old butt and call it 'discipline'."

Kakashi gulped. "I forgot about that."

Anko chuckled evilly.

"You know, Anko. For a nine-year old, you sure have managed to perfect your evil laughter quite well," Sakumo commented.

"I think it's a Mitarashi thing," Kakashi said.

"Stop pulling my hair, Kakashi."

"Sorry, Tochan. Hey, Baka-sensei! How'd the mission go?" Kakashi waved at Minato.

Minato smiled. "Great." Kakashi and Minato exchanged a satisfied smile.

Kakashi internally danced in circles.

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Kakashi stood in front of Minato's house, knocking on the door as loud as he could.

"Come _on_, Teme-sensei! Answer your stupid door!"

_CRASH!_

The door swung open at full force to reveal an angry—very angry—Kushina standing in the doorway.

"What do you want, Kakashi-_kun_?" she snapped.

"Erm… is Baka-sen…Erm. I mean Minato-sensei. Yeah, is Minato-sensei here?"

She rolled her eyes and laughed sleepily. "…Kids. Ugh… Yup. He's watching noodles."

"Why is he watching noodles? Is that a new show or something? Or is he literally watching some noodles?" Kakashi asked.

Kushina stared at him and blinked. She blinked again. "I'm cooking noodles and he's watching them to make sure they don't die. You're really stupid."

"Hey! That's mean!" Kakashi complained.

"Whatever. Come on in, kiddo."

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"Hey, moron-sensei!"

"Hey, Kakashi. Should I–uh…" Minato paused and scratched his head sheepishly. "…Have been…expecting you?"

"No. Don't worry about it. I just came to ask you a little about the mission," Kakashi said in what he considered to be a cute voice.

"Oh." Minato rolled his eyes. "Do you want some tea?"

"Sure."

Kakashi and Minato sat down in the living room chatting about the weather.

"It's kinda' cold today," Kakashi noted.

"Hmm. Yeah."

"Ugh. Don't say 'Hmm'. It sounds too much like 'Hn'. Stupid Uchihas…" Kakashi muttered.

"Kakashi! That's so mean! Don't be so rude about the Uchiha!" Minato shouted, stifling a chuckle. "_We _have an Uchiha on our team!"

"Yeah, but he's a cool Uchiha, so he doesn't count."

"I…never thought I'd hear the words 'Uchiha' and 'cool' in the same sentence without the word 'aren't' in between them," Minato replied.

Kakashi smirked. "So, uh, Poopy-sensei, do you have any details about that mission you could tell me?" Kakashi asked _sweetly_ with Puppy Dog Eyes™.

"Yeesh. Sorry, Kakashi, but everything is pretty much top secret. When you become a Jounin, come back and ask that question. Good thing they don't have a Minimum Sanity Requirement…basically, everything went smoothly, we were pretty much unhindered, with the exception of the random ninja attack here or there." Minato smiled softly.

"I don't know if the words 'basically unhindered' are meant to be relieving or not, but thanks, Sensei."

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"So, what do you wanna' eat, Anko?" Kakashi asked.

"Dango, duh."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. Yeesh. That girl could sure get crazy.

"Hello, Kakashi-kun!" the waiter said kindly.

"Hello," Kakashi replied.

"So, what would this _cute_ girl and you like?"

"Oi! You! I am not cute! I'm a friggin' Mitarashi! _Nobody_—and mark my words; I _mean_ nobody—calls a Mitarashi '_cute_'. It just _isn't_ done!" Anko pulled out a kunai and glared.

The man backed up fearfully. "I–I–I'm so–sorry, An-Anko-cha–cha–Eep–hime?"

Anko's lips curled evilly. Kakashi gulped. Seriously, an _eight-year old_ shouldn't know how to look that evil. It should be illegal. But as we all know, nobody stops a Mitarashi. That would be as stupid as telling a Hyuuga to cut their hair, or even worse, telling an Uchiha that chicken-butt hair and creepy red eyes both suck!

"Erm, Anko, I think that was, you know, meant as a compliment," Kakashi muttered, dragging her away from the man and apologizing for her actions profusely.

"I don't care! The Mitarashi name shall not be tarnished by such words as 'cute' and 'adorable'!" Anko exclaimed passionately.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Omake: More Bloopers!

Kakashi stuck out his tongue and threw yet another conveniently located rock. Kakashi sure loved his rocks. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Rock Boss of AWESOMENESS!"


	8. Chapter 8: Flying

**Hey, hey, hey! EeBee-kohai loves this story and apologizes profusely for the lack of update!**

**Her laptop's hard drive went BOOM and she had to get a new one. Well, after waiting a whole week, her laptop came in. A refurbished IBM Thinkpad. Well, after days and days of her step-dad trying to fix it up, he got pissed off because the WiFi card was too old and could not connect to the WiFi and sent it back.**

**He ordered her a new computer and after about a week of checking everything, installing MS Office, etc., EeBee-kohai got her laptop!**

**Her sister, Lil' DeiDei gave her a graphics tablet and EeBee-kohai used it for days straight and paid no attention to her stories. After a week and a half, her stories began to cry from the neglect she was showing! Oh, how sad!**

**EeBee-kohai is going to try to post Chapter 9 soon.**

**EeBee-kohai would like to warn you about the awesomeness that will soon begin! She is drafting the rest of Godaime of the Mist, because everyone thought it should be a multi-chapter story. Also, she is drafting an Itachi & Tenten story. It hasn't got a title yet, though. EeBee-kohai might put a summary up so she can get suggestions in a latter chapter of Blinking, though. Godaime of the Mist should be finished by September, she believes, but she can't be sure. EeBee-kohai has been writing her Itachi & Tenten story every day.**

**There are so many spoilers in this chapter!**

**Anyway, now that we're done with this huge author's note, on with the story!**

**Flying**

Kakashi sat in his bed throwing kunai at the roof. He idly wondered why his Otousan had not yelled at him for it yet, but he didn't mind not being yelled at…

He was trying to think of more nicknames for Minato and it wasn't going well. Kakashi was tired of using 'Baka-sensei'. He idly wondered what Naruto would call him. 'That was weird. I haven't thought of him in ages.' His brow creased slowly as he thought about his blonde student.

Just minutes later, Kakashi found himself wanting to punch something. That frustrating blonde! Kakashi was pretty dang sure that Naruto was the one who had kept stealing his Icha Icha.

Flashback:

_A harsh glare appeared on the blonde's face. "Kakashi-sensei! You never train us!" he complained._

_Kakashi flipped a page in his book. He was getting to the good part! Couldn't that boy be quiet for a moment?_

_"Kakashi-sensei! All you ever do is read porn! The super-pervert's porn! That's nasty! I bet if Sakura and I gave you a test on your skills, you'd fail because you'd start reading your porn!" Naruto said sulkily._

_Kakashi looked up at his students slowly. "Oh really?"_

_Naruto looked at him nervously and nodded._

_"Ok. Here is a bell. I am going to try to get it from you by noon. That gives me two hours."_

_Sakura nodded. "Hai."_

_"I'll give you a head start."_

_"Pfft! I don't need a head start!" Naruto exclaimed._

_"Shut up, Naruto. I do," Sakura said._

_Kakashi grinned beneath his mask._

_"Alright, guys! Let's go!" Naruto shouted._

_Naruto and Sakura nodded and headed into the trees. Just minutes later, they heard Kakashi's anguished screams as he emptied his weapon's pouch in a desperate search for his beloved orange book._

_That night, Naruto and Sakura went home quite beat up, and when Tsunade asked them what had happened as they hadn't had a mission in more than a week they only shuddered and whispered Kakashi's name._

End Flashback:

Yeah, they were definitely the ones who stole his book all the time. Kakashi frowned as he calculated how long it would be until his beloved book would be written. 'Awe, man! 'Tales of a Gutsy Ninja' isn't even written, yet!' He crossed his arms over his chest and sulked.

He looked down from the spot on his roof he was aiming for and noted that there was a knock at his door.

"Kakashi? Are you awake?" Sakumo asked.

"Yup." Kakashi quickly cast a Genjutsu on his roof.

Sakumo opened the door slowly and glanced around. He focused his eyes on Kakashi after a moment. "Hmm. I thought I heard something…"

Kakashi put on his best Innocent Eyes. "Like what, Tochan?"

Sakumo shrugged. "I don't know. Anyway, Minato's here."

"Ugh. I thought he said we didn't have a mission today!"

Sakumo shook his head. "No. Not a mission."

Kakashi frowned and made a gagging noise. "I don't feel like training today!"

"Shut up and let me finish speaking, Kakashi."

"Gomen…"

"He said he'd like you to get dressed so he can spend the day with you… He wanted to talk to you about something."

Kakashi's eyebrows furrowed. "Like what?"

Sakumo shrugged. "I don't know."

"Do I have a choice?" Kakashi asked as he began to drag himself out of bed.

Sakumo shrugged. "Probably not."

"Hmm… Today seems like a nice day to get lost on the road to life," Kakashi muttered.

"Or lost finding the road to life," Sakumo added as he walked out of the room.

Kakashi put his mask to his face and slipped his Hitaite over his silver hair. He walked down the stairs and met Minato and Sakumo in the kitchen with a loud yawn.

"Hello, Kakashi!" Minato cheered.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and walked over to the fridge. Minato began to talk to him as he reached for some bread. Kakashi pouted his lip though it couldn't be seen through his mask and glared at Minato. "Teme-sensei, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, but did you put the bread in the fridge?"

Minato crossed his arms in a childish manner. "…Maybe…"

"For the last Ramen Kami loving time: bread does not go in the fridge!"

Minato hung his head. "I'm sorry, Kakashi-kun!"

Kakashi patted Minato on the head and high fived his own forehead.

Sakumo leaned back in his chair and wiped his hands on a napkin. "So, what are you planning to do today?" he asked.

Kakashi shrugged. "Go back to bed."

"No, no, no! We are going out! We'll get Dango later on!"

"Yeah…" Kakashi said slowly. "I like my idea better."

Minato rolled his eyes. "Of course you do! You are ridiculously lazy!"

Kakashi stuck his tongue out at Minato.

"Alright, I have to go grocery shopping. I'll be back in about an hour." Sakumo stood up and left the kitchen. "Remember to stay away from anything dangerous when you have Minato with you, Kakashi."

"Hey! I'm not that bad!"

"You keep telling yourself that," Kakashi mumbled.

"Come on. Let's go," Minato said seriously.

Kakashi paused at his sensei's serious tone. "Um…ok."

Minato led Kakashi out of the house and down a few back alleyways until they arrived at a fairly worn yet unused road on the outskirts of Konoha.

Minato had stared forward the entire walk and had not even dared to look left or right. He'd stayed completely silent so only his quiet breathing could be heard. Kakashi found himself getting slightly irked at the lack of sound.

"Minato-sensei, where are we going?" Kakashi asked.

Minato glanced at him briefly before resting his eyes on the sights ahead. "You'll see."

"Well that's informative."

Minato didn't reply, to Kakashi's surprise.

They began to walk on the road silently and Kakashi found himself uncomfortable in the silence. "Hey, Crazy-sensei, what are we doing?" He glanced at Minato.

Minato opened his mouth to speak but closed it again. After a moment, he answered. "I need to talk to you about some things and I want to show you something."

Kakashi looked at the ground in front of him. He didn't remember ever going on this kind of trip with his Sensei in the other timeline. He tried to send his mind down the well-worn Memory Lane, but noted that he really couldn't remember anything like this.

It soon occurred to Kakashi that he had come back a much less stoic man boy and his sensei may have just changed accordingly. He idly wondered what the repercussions would be. Would Naruto still be born? Sakumo had not failed the mission, so he would always be around for Minato. And Minato could hopefully be saved. If he couldn't be, Kakashi would have friends and family to fall back on for support, this time. He hoped he could save Minato. A lot of things were changing already; why not that?

He glanced up at Minato, who had begun to slow his pace and search the nearby forest. Kakashi looked at the forest to see whatever Minato was looking at, but he couldn't find anything.

Abruptly, Minato grabbed Kakashi's arm and began to walk into the forest.

"Yikes! Don't rip that off!" Kakashi shouted.

Minato rolled his eyes.

Kakashi noticed the trees becoming sparse yet fuller and brighter. The greens shined as if they had been painted.

Minato slowed till he was barely walking as Kakashi looked at the green canopy above him. They walked a few more minutes until Minato stopped in a clearing. It was easily the most beautiful place Kakashi had ever seen. He found himself wishing Anko were there with him.

A quiet river was rushing at the side of the clearing with insanely blue water. It didn't look real. Kakashi looked around and saw a pile of nearly boulder-sized rocks at the water's edge. The water flowed around a sharp curve and down a small waterfall that was probably as tall as his Otousan.

"Hey, this place is pretty, Sensei!"

Minato nodded and walked over to a large boulder by the side of the river. He hopped onto it and sat down. Kakashi followed suit.

"This is the place my Okaasan used to take me," Minato said quietly.

Kakashi briefly glanced at his sensei before staring at the water.

"Kakashi, I took you here for a reason. My Kaachan took me here because she thought I had grown up enough…" Minato closed his mouth thoughtfully.

"For what?"

"To face life in its fullest."

"Minato-sensei, what are you talking about?"

Minato sighed. "What I'm saying is that you are ready to take on responsibility. You are a true man. You are human. Being a Shinobi is hard. Many Shinobi go crazy. You have life, family, friends, and all of that behind you: supporting you."

"I have little, to no, idea what you are talking about."

"Kakashi, let me explain. In the past year, you have made connections. You have made Shinobi life equal to friends, family, and whatever else, instead of making Shinobi life the number one thing. You seem to understand that to protect your village, you have to be willing to love it and make human connections."

Kakashi nodded understandingly. "I guess I kinda' get what you're trying to say."

Minato nodded back. "If a Shinobi has no connections, who is he going to tell about the failed mission? The annoying client? He is going to keep it in him and go crazy."

'That explains a lot about me.' Kakashi threw a rock into the river thoughtfully.

"Kakashi, would you mind answering a single question?"

Kakashi looked at him nervously, having a bad feeling about whatever question would follow. "I guess."

"Why did you think Sakumo's mission would fail? He is an incredibly strong Shinobi."

Kakashi glanced around nervously. "Uh. I don't know. Intuition?"

Minato rolled his eyes. "Kakashi, that was the stupidest answer ever. And the least convincing."

Kakashi looked at the ground. Why shouldn't he tell one person? Why keep him constantly suspicious? Minato would probably believe him and Kakashi could have help keeping the secret.

"It kind of reminds me of how you and Obito started becoming friends. One second you were ridiculously Emo, the next moment, you two are poking the hell out of each other. Or with Anko's training, you just suddenly started flirting with her."

Kakashi felt his face go red. "I was never Emo! And I don't flirt with Anko!" He paused and added, "That much…"

Minato chuckled. "Whatever. You used to hate Anko. You thought she was the world's most annoying future Kunoichi."

"I guess."

"Kakashi, really, what caused all of these changes? And how do you know that certain things will fail? And where does your vehement hatred for D-rank missions come from?"

"D-rank missions suck!" Kakashi rubbed his chin and his imaginary goatee. "Minato-sensei, I might tell you, but I promise that it sounds so fake, so unbelievable, and so impossible, that you most likely won't believe me."

Minato nodded. "I can try to believe you."

Kakashi continued to look at the river. "The day after my ninth birthday: that's when it all happened. Konoha was at war in…" he paused to calculate something. "30 years from about now. I was 39."

"Kakashi, what are "

"Let me finish, then you can talk."

Minato put his head in his hand lazily.

"The Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto, was 25."

"Wait! Uzumaki? As in Kushina's kid?"

"Yours and Kushina's."

"We had a kid?"

"Yep. The kid… I can't say he lived a good life…He was easily the strongest Hokage Konoha ever had. Stronger than the Yondaime." Kakashi looked at Minato out of the corners of his eyes. He would have sworn he'd seen Minato smiling. "We had gone up against Itachi, Kisame, and Deidara. They'd started a war."

"Who are they?"

"They were the last three members of the Akatsuki. It was a criminal organization that had been around for about 15 years. Well, actually, it will be. Everyone thought Sasuke killed Itachi. Itachi had gone into hiding, though. Itachi is Sasuke's brother. Itachi had killed the whole Uchiha clan, except his brother, and later, we found out he hadn't killed Madara."

"What? Why? Isn't Madara dead by now?"

"Madara is immortal because of his Sharingan. He visited Itachi when he had to kill the clan, but in general, he's on the lowdown right now. In about 17 to18 years, when the Akatsuki becomes known, he will be hidden under his pseudo-personality, Tobi. The fake leader, Pein, takes direct orders from him. The Uchiha were planning a coup, and Sarutobi-sama wouldn't do anything about it, so Danzo ordered Itachi to kill the clan. Itachi had done so and had told Sasuke that he'd killed the clan to test his skills so Sasuke would get stronger."

"How would that work?"

"I don't know. Do I look like an Uchiha? Anyway, Deidara had apparently been killed, but Pein had secretly revived him before his invasion. I don't really know about Kisame. He just sort of appeared. Sasuke was pretty mad that he'd tried to kill them both and neither one had stayed dead."

"Kakashi, I'm not understanding what you're talking about. Explain it from the beginning."

"Ok. I was given a Genin team consisting of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke when I was 26. Sasuke defected from Konoha to live with Orochimaru when he was 13 so he could get stronger."

"You mean one of the Sannin?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah. Sasuke got strong enough to kill Itachi, but he didn't know some of the stuff he should have known. Like the truth of the clan. He came back to Konoha when he was 22. That was two years after Naruto had become Hokage. Two years later, the entire Akatsuki, give or take a few, like Kisame, who we couldn't track down at the time but we believed to be dead, were reported to be wiped out.

About half a year later, news came back that Itachi was still alive. Sasuke, having found out the truth, that the clan had planned a coup, went to ask Itachi to come back to Konoha, but Itachi tried to kill him. Four months later, Deidara, Itachi, and Kisame came to Konoha and attacked. Just as Naruto almost killed Itachi, Itachi sent us back in time. I'm the only one that has come back."

Minato nodded. "Ok. These seemingly insane people sent you back in time? I mean, are you sure?"

"How could I not be sure I'd been sent back in time? I can prove it, if you want."

"How're you gonna' do that?"

"Before I came back in time, I was in ANBU. I had been in ANBU when I was 14 and I quit when I was 19 or 20. After Team Kakashi was about 22, or when they were mostly Jounin, except Naruto he'd been Hokage for 2 years I joined ANBU again and was placed as captain of Anko's unit."

Minato paled. "Anko was in ANBU?"

Kakashi nodded sadly. "I guess I could prove it to you by going into the ANBU building or finding one of the Hokage scrolls."

Minato shook his head. "No, no, no! I don't really want to get arrested because you decided you want to prove that to me!"

"You want me to talk in code, then?"

"What kind of code?"

"ANBU code."

"Why do you oh, yeah…uh, go ahead."

"The wolf has gone to be a lonely heart and he can't find the way back to the food."

"Sure, we can get chocolate ice-cream with gummy bears on top," Minato said, slightly surprised.

Kakashi picked up a stick of Dango and chewed it happily.

"So you were in ANBU for about 22 to 23 years in all."

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah. I met Almond Eyes in there."

"Almond Eyes?"

"Yeah. That's Tenzou's unofficial codename."

"Who's Tenzou?"

"He's the guy who replaced me for a while when I used my Mangekyou too much."

"What is Mangekyou?"

"It is the final level of the Sharingan, if you exclude the Eternal Mangekyou."

"How do you know so much about the Sharingan?"

"In the other timeline, Obito," Kakashi paused. "Died and gave me his Sharingan, because I lost my eye. That's why I found it so hard to train around my ninth birthday."

Minato nodded understandingly. "That actually explains a lot. Does your Otousan know?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No. I only want you to know."

"Ok. Tell me about your life. How was it after your ninth birthday in the 'other timeline'?"

Kakashi took a deep breath. "Well, that mission of Tochan's failed. Do remember the one I asked you to go on?"

Minato nodded.

"Well, the council out-casted him from the village and dishonored his name. I have a theory that Danzo was the root of the problem and that he wanted a Hatake as a tool. Tochan ended up committing Seppuku and I started to follow the Shinobi Code like a set of golden rules.

Then, when I was thirteen, I became a Jounin and you let me lead a mission. You went ahead and Rin got kidnapped. Obito went to retrieve her, but I didn't want to. I was stuck to the code. Later, I caught up with him and we got caught in a rock Jutsu. Obito got caught under a rock and I lost my eye. He gave me his left Sharingan and he died. Then, pretty much from then on, I went to the Memorial Stone and brooded for about three hours a day. Somewhere along the line, Rin disappeared. You became Hokage within a couple months of the accident. You were the Yondaime.

When I was 14, the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked. Kushina was pregnant and she had had to go into induced birth so you could seal the Bijuu into your kid. You sealed the Kyuubi into your child at the sacrifice of your own life and Kushina soon died. Her body couldn't handle the birth, I guess. This time round, I think I'm going to bring Tsunade back to the village.

The Sandaime had to become Hokage again and clean up the mess. It was found out ages later that the Nine-Tailed Demon had actually attacked Konoha because of Madara, so if you kill Madara, it won't attack. I personally think that another village will try to make a Jinchuuriki, but anyone else having the Nine-Tails in them just wouldn't work. Naruto is a strong person with a good spirit.

Eight years later, the Uchiha planned a coup. Itachi played as a spy for the Uchiha, but was actually a spy for ANBU. He told the Hokage what the Uchiha were planning. Sarutobi-sama delved into months and months of diplomatic talks until Danzo got annoyed. So Danzo told Itachi to kill the clan. Itachi was born this year back in June."

Minato nodded and ate more Dango.

"The night before the Uchiha massacre, as it was, or will be called, Uchiha Madara visited Itachi and they made an agreement. The agreement included Madara helping Itachi kill the clan, and Itachi, to keep an eye on Madara, joined the Akatsuki, which was secretly Madara's invention, in exchanged for Madara promising to stay away from Konoha. Madara apparently wanted to destroy Konoha. Once Itachi had killed the clan, he told Sasuke that he'd done it to test his skills, and told Sasuke that he needed to get vengeance on him so Sasuke could get stronger and possibly kill Madara. Actually, Naruto ended up killing Madara. Before Itachi left Konoha, he told Danzo that he'd reveal everything about Konoha if Danzo tried to use Sasuke as a village tool.

Four years later, I got Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura on my team as Team Seven. When they were about thirteen, Sasuke went to live with that pedophile, Orochimaru that is, after he quit the Akatsuki to get strong enough to kill Itachi.

Three years later, about, Sasuke killed Itachi, though Itachi let Sasuke kill him and Itachi was pretty sick. Around that time, we'd killed a few Akatsuki members.

Before Pein's invasion, Jiraiya fought Pein and discovered than Pein fights with his 'Paths', which are separate bodies that are all connected and he controls them from the shadows with his Rinnegan. Jiraiya killed one of the Paths, but soon died."

Minato paled. "Jiraiya died?"

Kakashi put his hands up. "He did, but it can be stopped! We know valuable information about Pein, so he won't have to go find the information."

Minato nodded slowly.

"Within a few months, Pein, the fake leader of the Akatsuki, attacked Konoha. He is the only Rinnegan user in existence, other than the Sage of Six Paths. He is believed to be the Sage in rebirth, but he is, despite how inhumanly strong he is, considerably weaker than the Sage was believed to be. That was about the time Naruto got toad sage training."

Minato smiled widely. "My son gets sage training? Cool!"

Kakashi nodded. "Naruto is the first person to ever go to the full extent of the sage training. He was better at it than Jiraiya."

Minato raised a yellow eyebrow. "Stronger than Jiraiya?"

"Yeah. You are, too."

"I don't really think so."

"You are. By far."

Minato blushed a bit and put his hand on the back of his head modestly.

"So, anything else you wanna' know?" Kakashi asked as he leaned back in his chair.

Minato put a finger up to his lip thoughtfully. "What is Naruto like and why did I name him that?"

"Kushina liked the name! So don't insult it!"

"Uh. Sorry…"

"Don't worry about it. He just didn't get to live a great life and I feel a little overprotective of him. You and Kushina named him after the main character of Jiraiya's book."

Minato paled. "Jiraiya wrote a book? I bet it was porn."

"No. It was actually a very good book. He does write porn later on, though. The book was called Tales of a Gutsy Ninja. Jiraiya didn't want you to name him that because then he'd be Naruto's godfather. You did anyway, of course."

"What a scary thought… Jiraiya writing books and being a Godfather. So once I died that feels like a strange thing to say Naruto lived with Jiraiya?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No. Jiraiya was out of the village as a spy. He was an official hermit."

"Are you saying he didn't come back to the village to raise my child?" Minato stood up swiftly and pushed the chair back, causing it to fall down onto the ground. The few people at the Dango stand stared at him like he was insane, the few he knew wearing confused stares.

"Shh! No one knows you will have a child!" Kakashi whispered.

Minato sat back down. "Ok. So, what did you mean when you said Naruto hadn't had a great life?"

Kakashi stared at Minato wordlessly. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yeah."

"After you died, Sarutobi-sama dishonored your request to honor Naruto as a village hero. He didn't tell anyone he was a Namikaze. He used Kushina's last name, Uzumaki, but the village was full of morons who couldn't connect 'Uzumaki' to 'Kushina'. Its not like it's a common name. It isn't even used in Konoha and Whirlpool doesn't exist anymore. Apparently, he did it to protect Naruto." Kakashi shrugged. "Naruto got kicked out of the orphanage after a while and was constantly on death's edge. Basically, assassins were always trying to kill him."

Minato looked as if he was about to murder someone.

"Calm down, Sensei. None of this has happened yet. There's time to fix it."

Minato nodded. It was true. There'd always be time. Minato grinned down at Kakashi and paid the bill.

"Wait a minute! Why do I have to pay?"

"Get over it, Sensei."

Omake:

_"Ok. Here is a bell. I am going to try to get it from you, Naruto. Sakura, you'll have to guard him."_

_"It's alright. I know I'm screwed," Naruto chuckled._

"Hello, Kakashi!" Minato cheered.

Kakashi became gay. "Minato! I love Gai! How do I tell him?"

"Minato-sensei, where are we going?" Kakashi asked.

Minato glanced at him briefly before resting his eyes on the sights ahead. "You'll see."

"Well that's informative."

Minato stopped walking and turned to Kakashi. "Kakashi, we're here!" Minato started shaking his hips as Bob Seger's Old Time Rock 'n Roll began to play. He wriggled out of his clothes and danced around as civilians gathered around.

"Yep, he's our next Hokage," a civilian muttered to another.

Minato increased his hip movements as Pein joined him with shouts of: "AND THRUST! AND THRUST! AND MOVE YOUR HIPS AND THRUST!"


	9. Author's Note! OF DOOM!

AN!

Hello readers/audience:

I got a review recently in which someone asked me if I'd dropped this story. Thank you for asking, because you urged me to finally get on with this note. I have not dropped the story. I have had a major bout of writer's block, lasting more than a year, and I have had a lot of stuff to deal with. I just graduated from high school, and I have been working all of the time, and I have moved multiple times over the past few months. Lately, I have been picking up on some of my much neglected stories and it truly strokes my ego that you bother to ask about them. So for those of you who are wondering, I will be doing major writing, and in most cases, rewriting for this story, adding consistency, but considering how slack I have been about it, I wouldn't expect anything soon.

As always, thank you for your faithful waiting and for your sakes, I will try to give you something soon.

Bye!


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